Stand in the Rain
by I's that C
Summary: Naruto has amnesia, the Uchiha family takes him in. He can't remember how he got there, or why, or what the pendant they found him with means. All he knows is that he was the one who made the rain stop. AU, one sided NaruIta, eventual SasuNaru
1. Prologue

_I don't remember much about that day._

_I don't remember lying down in the grass._

_I don't remember losing everything._

_Even my memories._

_I don't remember how I got the pendant I was found holding._

_It was all just this blank spot in my head._

_What I do remember was the rain._

_It beat down on me, swallowing my tears, as if it were sucking out every ounce of strength I had left._

_It was as if every drop was chipping away at me, just waiting for me to shatter._

_And just when I was at the breaking point..._

_I remember that was when he made the rain stop._  
><em>It felt good, so good, to be free from its relentless beating, and his warm hands on my cold skin, and his kind face staring down at me, and his smooth voice whispering me words of comfort...<em> 

_When my whole life was crashing down around me, he made the rain stop._

_And I will always be grateful to him for it._

_I will always love him for it._

…**Make the rain stop…**

Itachi sat on the porch, gazing out into the distance, his fingers toying with a loose thread on the hem of his pants. It had rained relentlessly throughout the week, and this afternoon was not an exception. He knew he had homework to do, and he knew his father would scold him if he didn't have it done, but on this particular dark, dreary day, he decided he didn't care. He had been confined to the Uchiha complex every afternoon this week, and he was beginning to feel restless. 

The wind whistled through the trees, blowing ice cold droplets of water onto Itachi's face. He shuddered, and a thought crept into the back of his mind that perhaps he ought to go inside before he caught cold, but he quickly pushed the notion to the side. Itachi ached to feel the sun on his face, but he also knew it would be a while before he could, and so, despite the discomfort of the cold, he remained on the porch, relishing the sharp, clear scent of the rain and patiently awaiting the moment the clouds parted to reveal the delicious warmth of the sun. 

As he sat lost in thought, the cool breeze surrounding him escalated to a howling, almost loud enough to cover up the sound of light footsteps padding towards him. He turned towards the sound, his hair whipping about his pale face in the breeze. The footsteps stopped, and there stood his eight year old brother. 

Itachi smiled at the sight of him, his small frame clad in a warm-looking long-sleeved navy blue shirt and white shorts. He pulled at the hem of his shirt, shifting from one bare foot to the other; black fringe framed his wide, dark eyes, a sharp contrast to white skin, betraying a hint of nervousness. "What's the matter, Sasuke-chan?" he asked, imagining the boy was likely scared by the storm. Somewhere high above them, the gods clashed, but Sasuke's face showed no sign of fear. 

"Aniki... When will the rain stop? I'm bored. I want to play outside." He pouted slightly and Itachi chuckled. His brother was restless, just as he was. He motioned for the younger boy to sit beside him, and he happily obliged. 

"I don't know..." He frowned at Sasuke's disappointed expression, and pulled the boy close, keeping him warm. He looked out into the horizon again, brows furrowing in thought. The rain really wasn't that bad, and they were so incredibly bored, stuck in the complex day after day...

"Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take a little walk..." Itachi mused. Sasuke jumped up from his seat beside his brother, an enthusiastic look gracing his features. 

"Really, nii-san? Do you think we really could?" he all but shouted, practically jumping up and down. 

"The least we could do is try..." 

At that the two boys made their way inside to attempt to convince their mother to allow them to go out for a short walk. After promising to keep his younger brother warm and dry, and to stay close to home, Mikoto Uchiha reluctantly gave her permission. She worried, but she understood how the felt, being cooped up in the dark building all week. 

Sighing, the boys' mother watched as Itachi helped a squirming Sasuke put on his rain coat and boots. The two grabbed umbrellas from the container by the door, and set out, waves of joy wafting off of even the normally stoic older Uchiha.

The ground was wet, the grass squelching beneath their feet with each step releasing an earthy smell, but the wind had died down a bit and the two could see that the worst of the storm had passed. Feeling happier than he had in a long time, Itachi watched as Sasuke practically skipped along the path unable to contain his joy at being able to get some fresh air, singing a little song he'd learned the week before at his elementary school about being thankful for the rain. Itachi remembered learning the same song when he was in second grade, and found himself singing along in his head. Children's songs were contagious like that. 

The pair stayed true to their promise to stay close to home, only going as far as the playground in the Uchiha district (although both brothers would have preferred to go see the lake, which was about a quarter mile outside of the district), and the walk passed by without incident. As they reached the playground, they decided to stop and sit under the covered pavilion where the benches were dry. As Itachi placed his umbrella off to the side and turned to sit, he heard a splash and noticed that his brother was no longer beside him. Surveying his surroundings, he located the boy standing slightly off the sidewalk in a large puddle, staring into the distance.  
>Itachi raised an eyebrow, wondering what had gotten into the boy. He walked to the edge of the pavilion. "Sasuke-chan, you mustn't splash in the puddles," he gently reminded the younger Uchiha, but Sasuke paid him no notice. <p>

"Aniki... I think there's someone over there, just lying on the ground..." 

Curious, Itachi grabbed his umbrella and stepped off of the sidewalk to stand beside his brother. Sure enough, just off into the bushes, the was the crumpled form of a boy about Sasuke's age.

From where he stood, he could see the boy's blond hair and knew that he was not Uchiha. "Go get father," Itachi instructed, realizing the boy could be hurt or lost or worse... Dead. As chief of police in the small town of Konoha, their father would know what to do. Sasuke nodded and ran off, understanding the seriousness of the situation despite his young age, leaving Itachi to walk towards the sodden form. 

The boy was thin, his skin tanned, and he wore a faded orange shirt with blue shorts. Itachi noticed he was not shivering, despite the cold, and began to worry. He gently rolled the boy over so that he faced Itachi, holding his umbrella over him to keep the rain off of him. His skin still held some of the warmth of life, and he had a pulse, though it was weak. 

Itachi used his shirtsleeve to dry the boy's face a bit, and he responded to the touch. His eyelids slowly fluttered open to reveal eyes of the brightest, most vibrant blue Itachi had ever seen. The boy bit his lip and let out a small whimper. "Don't worry, help is on the way," Itachi soothed, gently stroking the boy's small face. As he did this, he noticed three whisker-like scars on each cheek. 

The boy closed his eye again, feeling comforted. "Who... are you...?" came the boy's hoarse whisper. 

"Don't try to talk; save your strength," he advised, then added, "My name is Itachi."

…**Make the rain stop…**

Mikoto wrapped the boy's small frame in yet another blanket as he began to shiver again. His pulse had gotten stronger and he was fully conscious since her husband had brought the boy into their home, but his body temperature was still far too low. Her sons stood awkwardly in the door frame, wanting to help, but not sure what to do. "Itachi, check to see if the soup is ready," Mikoto said, smiling at the boys' concern. "Sasuke, fetch me the thermometer." Both brothers nodded and hurried off to complete their respective tasks. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked the boy. 

"Better..." came his soft reply. 

"What's your name?" 

The boy hesitated, a worried look on his face. His small features scrunched up in concentration.

"I... I don't know..." 

Mikoto frowned. Did the boy have amnesia? "Well, where is your mother?" 

This question brought tears to the boy's cerulean orbs. "I don't know... I can't remember anything." 

Mikoto felt her heart break for the little blond boy. Though he was not injured externally, something awful must have happened to him to cause him to lose all of his memories. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure someone will come looking for you soon." 

Tears streamed freely down the boy's face. "I want my momma..." he sobbed. Mikoto held him, and the boy pressed his face into her breast, taking in her warm scent. This was not his mother, but she was warm, and kind, and her fragrance was comforting. 

"Don't worry, until we find her, I'll be your momma, okay?" She felt the boy nod against her chest. She rocked the boy back and forth, and he fell asleep within seconds. He really was exhausted. 

When Itachi returned with the soup, Mikoto waved him away. The boy could sleep now, and eat later. When Sasuke returned with thermometer, she placed it on the night stand. That could wait too. 

As she sent the boys to their rooms to let the boy sleep, her eyes fell on the pendant the boy had been found wearing. It was shaped like a spiral, and on the back she just now noticed some tiny, engraved characters... They read "Uzumaki Naruto." Mikoto looked at the boy's sleeping frame. That must be his name. She left the room to go tell her husband of her discovery.

…**Make the rain stop…**

"The boy's name is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." 

Fugaku looked up from where he was sitting at his desk, reading over some documents for work.

His wife held in her hand a small pendant. He nodded. "I'll look to see if I can find any other Uzumaki in the area. The boy was alone on our territory, he can't have gotten too far away from home." He turned to his computer and pulled up the city database, keying in a search for the name Uzumaki. 

Mikoto sat on the edge of their bed, anxiously waiting to see if the search came up with anything. She felt bad for the family who was missing the poor little boy, and nearly began to cry when she thought of how she would feel if Sasuke or Itachi were to go missing. 

"Funny... No Uzumaki in this city..." Mikoto frowned at this. Fugaku typed away, bringing up a new screen. "Let me check the database for Suna, Oto and Kiri..." 

Each search failed to retrieve anyone by the name Uzumaki. Fugaku clicked into the sheriff's department website, pulling up a list of recent Amber Alerts within a thousand mile radius. Mikoto walked to the desk, placing her hands on her husband's shoulders as he scrolled through the list, looking for any missing persons by the name or likeness of Uzumaki Naruto. There were none. 

Fugaku leaned back in his chair, wondering what to do. It was as if the child had come from nowhere. "Well, at work tomorrow I'll search the global database for someone that might be related. If nothing come up, we'll file our own missing person report." 

Mikoto nodded, thanking her husband, "That sounds like a good idea." 

"I'll call the orphanage, see if they can make a spot for him." 

At this, Mikoto gasped. "We can't send him to an orphanage," she shouted in outrage. "The poor thing is lost, and confused, and so sad, we can't just cart him off to strange people and leave him there!" 

Fugaku shot her a glare. "To him, we are strange people, too," he reminded the distraught woman. 

She shook her head, remembering her promise to be the little boy's momma until he found his. "At least here, we will know he is taken care of." 

"It's none of our business, love," he insisted, no warmth in his voice, despite his choice of words. He logged off the computer and stood, ready to leave the room. 

Mikoto stared at his back, angrily. "I can't believe you. I mean, imagine if something happened to Sasuke. How would you feel knowing someone just stuck him in some cold lonely orphanage with no one to care for him?" Fugaku gave no indication he had heard her, continuing to walk towards the hallway with phone in it. 

Getting angrier by the second, Mikoto wrapped her arms around herself, nails digging into soft skin as she followed him to the hallway. "Of course, you probably wouldn't care." Fugaku paused with his hand on the phone. Glad to be getting a reaction out of him, she continued in her assault. "You never did care about Sasuke. I remember you practically begged me to get an abortion." 

Fugaku said nothing. His knuckles turned white where they grasped the phone, but he made no move to remove it from its cradle. 

"And when he was born how you wouldn't even hold him. They all told me you were heartless, but did I believe them? No-" 

Fugaku whirled to face his wife. "I care about Sasuke. I really do, but honestly, Mikoto. We can't handle having another kid around. Both of us are up to our necks between work and the kids, and Itachi's practically raising Sasuke as it is." Mikoto's eyes flooded with tears. "The answer is no Mikoto, and you're not guilt tripping me into letting this Naruto boy stay here the way I let you guilt trip me into keeping Sasuke. That was different because he is my son, but this kid is not my responsibility, nor is he yours, and I suggest you stop acting like he is." 

Mikoto stood where she was for a moment, stunned by her husband's cruel words. When she spoke again, all weakness was gone from her voice, and all that was left was a dangerous fury. "Uchiha Fugaku, if you so much as think about picking up that phone, I swear I will leave you in a second, and I'll take the boys with me. All three of them. I'm serious," she added, though her tone made it painfully obvious. 

At this Fugaku hesitated. "Why... Why do you feel so drawn to this boy? He's not family, you haven't even met him before today, but still you're so protective of him..." 

Mikoto sighed. Sometimes men were just so oblivious. "Because he needs me." 

Fugaku turned and stalked off down the hall. "Fine, but don't expect me to help you take care of him." 

'Don't worry, I wouldn't expect you to lift a finger,' she thought sarcastically, but merely said, "Thank you," politely as he walked away.

…**Make the rain stop…**

After Naruto woke up the next morning, Mikoto happily informed him that they had figured out his name, and that they were searching for his family as they spoke. The boy's grin was priceless and made the fight with her husband the night before feel worth it to the raven-haired woman. 

The boy's body temperature had returned to normal, he had eaten his fill of Mikoto's home cooking, and finally he was looking healthy and livelier by the minute. 

"Sasuke and Itachi are at school right now," she informed him. "I took off of work today to take care of you. You'll be staying here until we find your family." 

Wide grin still in place, Naruto replied, "Thank you, onee-san." 

Mikoto smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "No problem. You should rest up for now. When the boys get home from school, you can play with them," she added, noting that there hadn't been signs of rain all day. 

"Okay." Naruto nodded and lay down as Mikoto left the room. 'Itachi... That was the one who saved me,' he thought, trying to remember his face. He didn't have a clear picture in his head, he had been disoriented that day, but he all too clearly remembered soft, warm hands, and a beautiful, kind voice. Naruto felt his face heat up, turning giddy with excitement at the prospect of thanking his savior.

…**Make the rain stop…**

"Did you find anything," Mikoto asked her husband almost as soon as he returned home from work. 

Fugaku looked thoroughly stumped. "Just one Uzumaki Kushina, but she died eight years ago. Supposedly during childbirth, along with her newborn. His name was Naruto. There wasn't a father's name recorded on the birth certificate, though his death certificate listed a Namikaze Minato. Also dead." 

Mikoto looked out the window to where the boys played and Fugaku followed her gaze. Naruto and Sasuke were arguing over a toy, while Itachi watched on, amused. "Well... That can't be right." 

"I know, but it's all we have to go on. We filed a missing person report, but until someone steps forward and proves they're a relative, I've filed for us to be the boy's legal guardians." 

"Oh, Fugaku, that's so sweet of you," Mikoto cooed, truly thankful towards him. She knew it wouldn't long until the stoic man warmed up to the sunshiny blond. 

He sighed, draping an arm over his wife's shoulders. He had a feeling the boy would be with them for a long time to come. 

But he was ready.

…**Make the rain stop…**

**I'm steadily making revisions to this story, so if the next few chapters are difficult to read, just hang tight! It will be fixed sooner than you know. :D And I wouldn't mind reviews, even though the story is complete… :3**


	2. Revelation

**This is the revised version of chapter two! Woot, woot!**

**I suppose since you're reading this, you liked the prologue. Which is good. I got lots of faves and stuff (though I would appreciate more reviews)... ;o**  
><strong>I wrote down an outline for this about five years ago, but the idea suddenly came back to me for some reason, so here it is.<strong>  
><strong>Anyway, I intend to finish this...(It is finished now!) But I also tend to lose interest in projects often, so I'm not making any promises. Reviews will absolutely encourage me to keep writing. :3 I'm typing this all on my phone; any mistakes are likely because of that, so go easy on me. I fixed up the formatting for this chapter...<strong>  
><strong>If you have a characters you would like to see show up, let me know, and I'll see if I have a 'role' for them.<strong>  
><strong>Enjoy!<strong>

**Chapter Title: Revelation**  
><strong>Chapter Pairings: Onesided!NaruIta, Past!ItaKonan, ShikaKarin, implied!GaaHina<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Warnings: Some suggestive language, but that's about it. Well, if you don't like crack pairings, maybe, but if you don't like those... Then don't read my stuff, because I pretty much only write crack pairings. Chapter Summary: Seven years later, Naruto is still traumatized by what happened to him, though he still can't remember a minute of it. But what does his strange recurring dream mean? And why does he feel like someone's watching him? Meanwhile, Sasuke realizes his feelings for the blond.<strong>

…**Make the rain stop...**

Naruto lay in bed, unable to sleep. He'd had nightmare after nightmare, and he could practically feel the rain coming. He was now fifteen, although nights like this made him feel like the weak eight year old he was the day the Uchiha family took him in. God, he hated the summer months.

Naruto turned to face the other bed in the spacious room, where Sasuke lay, sound asleep. The clock on the dresser read 2 AM. He sighed. They had to be up for school in three hours, and Naruto could already tell it was going to be a long day.

Trying to stop his trembling, Naruto squeezed his pillow, pressing his face into it to block out the sounds of the beginning of a rainstorm. Thinking calming thoughts (of sunshine, of cloudless afternoons, of Itachi) he slipped into fitful sleep.

…**Make the rain stop…**

There was a face, dark and shady. He wasn't sure he recognized the figure, but he was sure that it was here to hurt him. He anxiously watched the figure as it went about its business, hardly taking notice of him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, threatening to leap out his throat at the slightest sudden movement of the figure. The anticipation was murder.

He trembled and shook, unable to move, though he wasn't sure why. He could feel that he was not bound, but still he was frozen to that spot. Somewhere in the distance he could hear the harsh pitter-pattering as rain began to fall on the building he was in.

The figure stood facing away from him, hunched over something. He heard the pop of a cork, then a faint trickling.

After, there was silence, broken only by his sharp, gasping breaths. The fear was unimaginable. Deep inside, he knew what was coming, but he refused to think about it. It was too awful.

The figure turned to face him. He could see now that it was a man. Amber snake-like eyes gleamed in the dark. His breaths neared hyperventilation.

And then that voice, meant to sound soothing, but to him was like a venomous cobra's hiss.

-Don't worry now...

The snake man stepped towards him, holding something in his hand. In the faint light, the needle of the syringe glinted. Sheer, horrid panic took over, and he screamed, screamed with such ferocity that it felt as if his throat was torn and bleeding.

-This won't hurt a bit...

Naruto awoke to the sound of someone shouting his name. "I-Itachi?"

"No, it's me, idiot." Those were the words that brought him back to reality. The blond sat up in bed, florescent blue eyes resting on dark, gray ones. Tilting his head back to rest against the wall, Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm down.

"Same dream as always?" Sasuke asked, his tone gentler this time.

"Yeah..." Naruto sighed. "Sorry for keeping you up again.

Sasuke shook his head. "Don't worry about it. We would have had to get up in twenty minutes anyway." He sat on the edge of Naruto's bed, examining the swirly pattern of the orange comforter. He looked exhausted, something that Naruto felt guilty about. "What exactly is it that you have nightmares about, anyway?"

He looked down at his hands suddenly feeling nervous. Sasuke never really showed concern over the dreams, and this turn of events almost left him with a light blush on his face. "To be honest, I never really can remember."

Sasuke scoffed. "You wake me up screaming bloody murder every time it rains, and you can't even remember what it is you're screaming about?"

Naruto glared at him. "Sorry for having no control over what I do when I'm unconscious." So much for concern.

"Hn." Sasuke stood up and walked to the dresser, rummaging through the drawers for something to wear for school. "You know, Aniki is coming home to visit next week," Sasuke mentioned, changing the subject.

Naruto blushed furiously, feeling a giddy happiness bubbling up inside of him. Itachi was now in his Junior year at Konoha University, one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the country. Naruto was proud of him for getting accepted into his first choice school, but KU was far away, and he hated the fact that he only got to see his pseudo brother/secret crush on breaks. "That's nice," he said, trying to keep his tone from revealing exactly how nice it was. Then, something occurred to him. "Why's he coming home now? School's not out yet. It's still a few more weeks..."

He shrugged. He'd been wondering the same thing. "I suppose we'll find out next week."

Naruto nodded his head, worrying a little that Itachi might be hurt or sick or something. "I hope nothing's wrong..." he said, voicing his concern.

Sasuke grunted his agreement, pulling a black band t-shirt over a deep red long-sleeved one. Naruto turned away, giving the other male some privacy as he dressed from the waist down. His thoughts focusing on Itachi, Naruto inwardly decided that this break, he was going to act on his feelings for Itachi.

Suddenly, the alarm went off, making both boys jump. Sighing, Naruto pulled himself out of bed to get himself ready for the day ahead of him, one that would be even longer now that he had Itachi's visit to look forward to.

…**Make the rain stop…**

Sasuke sat- third row, window seat- in his advanced Calc AB class, half listening to the boring teacher drone monotonously about limits and derivatives, half lost in thought. He was thinking about this morning and how Naruto had reacted when he announced Itachi's impending visit. It had been dark, and he hadn't been necessarily looking, but he could have sworn he'd seen the blond boy blush.

'Does Naruto... _like_ my brother...?' he wondered, absently doodling in his notebook. It would make sense. After all, Itachi was the one Naruto attributed to saving his life all those years ago.

Suddenly, images came flooding back to him: of Naruto always acting like he was on cloud nine when Itachi was around, of Naruto muttering his name in his sleep, of Naruto always wanting to hang around Itachi, even when he was with his weird friends from the theatre group he was a part of in high school. But that didn't mean anything, right? Maybe he just looked up to Itachi? Sasuke remembered that he had idolized his brother growing up, too.

But then again... Sasuke hadn't gotten angry when Itachi had started dating that girl, Konan. The entire time the two were together, Naruto had avoided the older Uchiha, often by sulking in their room. The relationship only lasted about two weeks though- 'I mean, really, blue hair and piercings? That girl couldn't have been more wrong for him.'- and after they broke up, things mysteriously went back to normal. At the time, Sasuke just assumed the two had gotten into a fight, but maybe...

Sasuke resolved that when Itachi came to visit he would watch the two to see if anything suspicious was going on between the two.

Just as the bell rang signifying the end of first block, Sasuke felt a nudge on his shoulder. It was one of his best friends, Nara Shikamaru. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

Sasuke flinched. Had it been that obvious that he was paying absolutely no attention to the lecture? "Nothing."

The brunet yawned, brown eyes closing sleepily. He tightened his spiky ponytail, gathering up his stuff. "Whatever. Too much of a drag to try to get stuff out of you..." he muttered.

Sasuke gathered up his own stuff, following Shikamaru out of the room. "Hey, I'll tell you about it at lunch, okay?" he said as the two parted ways. Shikamaru nodded, chuckling to himself at his friend's behavior. Sasuke always tried to act like an adult, but sometimes he was just like a little kid.

…**Make the rain stop…**

'Let's see, number eight. "If the hypotenuse of an irregular triangle is 12 feet, and leg A measures in at six feet, and the angle adjacent to leg A is 48 degrees, what is the measure of the angle adjacent to leg B? Give your answers in radians in terms of pi..." What the hell does that mean? This is stupid... Why would there be a triangle that big anyway? And what does it mean, legs?'

Naruto growled in frustration, glaring holes into his math test. Not for the first time he found himself wishing he had Sasuke's brains. Seriously, the kid was in all advanced classes, while he struggled through remedial geometry... again.

Giving up, but determined to see the test through to the end, Naruto filled in bubbles at random, figuring he'd rack up more points that way than he would if he attempted to work the problems out himself.

Getting up to turn in his test, out of the corner of his eye Naruto thought he saw someone standing outside the window. As he turned to look, he saw a streak of red, but there was no one. If there had been someone, they had run off just in time to avoid the blond's gaze.

Naruto rubbed his arms, hair standing on end at the eerie feeling he got. Had that person been watching him? Shuddering slightly, he pushed that thought to the back of his head and turned in the test. Math had tortured him enough. He didn't need to get himself all freaked out over what was probably nothing to worry about.

Sitting down at his desk, Naruto doodled in the corner of his notebook, daydreaming of a certain raved haired man...

…**Make the rain stop…**

Sasuke lay back on the grass, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon, glad that the rain had not carried into the day. Beside him sat Shikamaru and his girlfriend, Karin, a pretty red head in the year above them; on his other side sat Gaara, his other best friend, also a red head, sporting thick black eye liner.

The four ate in silence, only interrupted by Shikamaru. "So, Sasuke... What's up?" he asked. Gaara and Karin looked at him in confusion, having not been present for their conversation in Calculus.

Sasuke shifted positions, not sure how to begin to explain his strange thoughts, or why they bothered him "Well," he started, "Itachi-nii-san is coming home next week."

"So? I thought you liked your brother," said Karin. There was a note of curiosity in her voice, but Sasuke knew Shikamaru's fiery female counterpart well enough to know that she was just being nosy. The girl had had a huge crush on him in junior high, and from that experience he still could not figure out what his quiet, lazy friend saw in her.

Sasuke ignored her, trying to make it clear that he was talking to his friends, not her. She pouted, realizing what he was doing, but stayed quiet. "I think that Naruto might have a crush on him, or something.."

"Well, that's obvious." Sasuke just looked at him, surprised. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I've been to your house maybe three times. You _live_ there. Why does this surprise you?" he asked, further emphasizing this revelation's apparent nature.

Sasuke scowled. How come he hadn't seen it until now? "I don't know why, but it really bothers me for some reason. I can't figure it out..." Sasuke sat up straight, brows furrowing in thought.

There was a collective sigh from the trio. Sasuke glared. "What's that supposed to mean?

Karin shook her head. "You're being really dense today." Shikamaru laid his head on her lap, probably deciding it would take too much effort to indulge in Sasuke's alleged denseness.

"Okay, then if the reason I'm freaking out about Naruto being into my brother is SO obvious, then please, will someone enlighten me? You know how I hate being left in the dark about my own emotions."

"Easy on the sarcasm, there, Sasu," came Shikamaru's mumbled retort.

Just as Sasuke felt his anger rising, the quieter red head spoke up for the first time that afternoon. "It really is obvious, though. Anyone with half a brain could see that you're totally in love with Naruto-san." Karin and Shikamaru nodded knowingly in agreement.

For a moment, Sasuke was at a loss for words, shocked by Gaara's sudden blunt statement. "I don't love him," Sasuke assured coolly, after a moment of composing himself. He was proud to say he somewhat managed to keep his tone even, although he could feel that he had turned bright red. He could tell his friends did not believe him. "Honestly, I'm not even gay."

"Oh really? So you've never had a girlfriend, yet girls are constantly throwing themselves at you, you own 12 pairs of shoes, and you wear make-up, but you're totally straight," Shikamaru countered, and not for the first time Sasuke found himself wishing the brunet didn't know pretty much everything about him.

"You own 12 pairs of shoes?" Karin giggled. Sasuke ignored her.

"So I collect shoes, whatever. There's nothing gay about eyeliner, Gaara wears plenty, and you don't call him gay."

"Gaara didn't turn down Karin," he added, "no straight guy in their right mind would turn down a girl with her body." He winked, leaning back to kiss his girlfriend, who blushed at the compliment.

Sasuke growled in frustration. He supposed Karin was rather shapely, sporting C cups, a toned stomach, curvy hips, and even curvier legs. "Karin's just not my type," he countered nicely.

Gaara shook his head, "What about Hinata-chan?" he asked, referring to his own quiet girlfriend. "She's the total opposite of Karin, but she's not your type, either, ne?"

Hinata was even shapelier that Karin, with her bust nearing into the double D's, and what many argued was the perfect butt. Sasuke could see why turning down two of the most sought after girls in school would make him seem gay. "Maybe I just don't like curvy girls," he countered, sure they wouldn't be able to refute that statement.

"What about Ino?" Karin put in. "The girl's like a twig. A very sexy twig," she added.

Sasuke was unable to find any evidence to support his alleged straightness after this. "Okay, so I don't really like girls, but I've never liked a guy before, either," he admitted. He found himself beginning to wonder. Did he like Naruto? It would explain a lot of the odd feelings he got when he was around the blond... "I don't know... If I've never even kissed a guy or anything, how am I supposed to know if I really like him that way? It could just be that I'm being overprotective of him, or something..."

"Poor Sasuke. His antisocial attitude has left him all confused," Karin cooed. Shikamaru and Gaara snickered.

Sasuke sighed in frustration, leaning back against a tree. He supposed he was confused, and that irritated him. After a moment, he was suddenly pulled out of his thoughts by the feeling of Gaara's soft lips on his own. Sasuke's eyes jolted open in shock and for about the third time that day, he found himself blushing. It was unexpected, and a little weird, since it was Gaara, but Sasuke noted that it still felt way better than kissing girls. His stomach uncharacteristically did flip-flops as he imagined what it might feel like to kiss Naruto...

Everyone stared at him after the impromptu kiss, waiting for his reaction. He hesitated. "Okay, so maybe I do like Naruto like that..." he slowly admitted. The trio smirked, triumphantly. Sasuke's face fell.

"What's wrong?" Karin asked.

"If I'm gay... Father is going to kill me." Then something occurred to him. "Do you think Itachi-nii-san is gay? It might not be so bad if he was still able to give my parents grandchildren..."

"That guy? Straight as a ruler," Shikamaru assured, just as the bell rang. The four parted ways, leaving Sasuke to ponder his feelings as he walked to the only class he shared with Naruto, advanced Literature and Composition.

Feeling a bit nervous after his lunch-time conversation, Sasuke slid into his seat next to Naruto. The blond failed to notice his discomfort, however, and merely turned to him, chattering happily about the assigned reading they'd completed for homework. That was the one thing Naruto was better at then him, reading and comprehension.

Sasuke had read the first hundred pages of _Heart of Darkness_, but had failed to understand a word of it, while the blond went on and on about the characters and about how surprising this or that scene was, even pulling out symbols and predicting what would happen next from the slight hints of foreshadowing. Sasuke merely listened, just nodding along, as if he'd been thinking the same exact thing.

He would never admit it out loud, but he relied on these before-class conversations to pass the tests.

As Iruka-sensei began the lesson, Naruto fell silent. He had a lot of respect for their sensei, which was probably one of the only reasons why he worked so hard to make this the only class he was pulling an A in. Sasuke's eye twitched in frustration at the fact that Naruto had only had the chance to talk about the first half of the assignment, then tuned out the lecture, hoping he wouldn't be called on to answer a question about the reading.

Turning his gaze to the person sitting next to him, Sasuke found himself admiring the other male. The way the light was coming through the window, hitting his tan skin made his blond locks glitter, and his eyes seemed to glow, that's how blue they were. Radiant. Sasuke's eyes traveled to his thin, perfect hands, furiously scribbling down notes with the pencil held in his left hand. With a start, Sasuke realized that it wasn't hard at all to imagine those hands doing 'things' to him... And those lips...

Trying to ignore the sudden tightness in his pants and picking up his own pencil, Sasuke looked away and began absently drawing on his notebook. It wasn't worth thinking about Naruto like that, he tried to reason with himself. 'After all, he is in love with Itachi. You should know by now that you just can't compete with him...'

Feeling suddenly depressed, Sasuke shut his notebook, locking the drawing (which had somehow morphed into Naruto's profile) away from view, and forced himself to pay attention to the lecture, despite how boring it was.

…**Make the rain stop…**

Lit was the last class of the day, for both Naruto and Sasuke, and they headed off to their lockers together, though Sasuke made a point not to speak to the blond, who looked a bit dejected at the rejection. As they went to their separate ways, Sasuke focused his gaze ahead, dialing his combination with deliberate strokes, not even looking up as Karin reached her locker, the one beside his.

"How was lit?" she asked, just for the sake of conversation, knowing full well that Sasuke shared that class with his newfound love interest. When she got no answer she looked at him, eyes opening wide as she realized with alarm that there was a faint glimmer of tears in his dark gaze.

He simply shook his head, grabbing his books and slamming the door of his locker and set off down the hall.

Karin glanced across the hall, where Naruto stood, chatting amicably with his two best friends, Sakura and Kiba. The blond looked as happy as ever, and Karin couldn't imagine he'd just rejected Sasuke or something. Puzzled, Karin set off to where her boyfriend waited for her, wondering absently about their mutual friend's dejected mood.

Naruto left the school, walking a few steps behind the moody Uchiha, knowing to leave well enough alone, though he found himself curious as to what had set the raven haired male off this time. Just as he was about to ask, Naruto happened to glance to the side.

Slightly behind the trees stood a tall, broad red haired man. Naruto had never seen the man around school before, but it looked as if the was staring at him. Naruto watched the man, who spoke softly to a shorter, white haired male for a moment, then lost them as a crowd of students passed by.

Naruto swallowed, noticing his throat had gone dry, and felt his heart beat quicken. Why did he keep feeling like people were watching him? It made no sense.

A call of "Dobe, are you coming?" snapped him out of his mini panic attack. He glanced at Sasuke who stood several yards away. Naruto ran to catch up, writing the feelings off as mere paranoia, caused by all the rain they'd had recently. He really hoped that was it.


	3. Stalker

**Back again. This chapter was easy to write, but I hope it wasn't too rushed. :3 Thanks for your alerts and reviews. I feel like I've got a lot of ideas for this one, so chances are, I'll keep updating. I'm afraid the last chapter was moving too quickly, so if you think that's the case let me know, I'll try to add more details to the chapters, but it'll take longer. I'm still typing everything on my phone, after all. :( Let me know how you like it! :D I think my page breaks will actually work this time.******

**Chapter Title: Stalker****  
><strong>**Chapter Pairings: Onesided!SasuNaru, Onesided!NaruIta, and a Mystery Pairing! (I can't say who it is, cuz it would be a bit of a spoiler.)****  
><strong>**Chapter Warnings: Strong language. Some violence. Emotional abuse. Implied relations between people with a large age gap.****  
><strong>**Chapter Summary: Sasuke feels depressed as he realizes he can't live up to his brother, and resorts to some drastic measures to cope. Meanwhile, Naruto finds out more about the people following him. What do they want from him, and just who are they working under.**

Sasuke sat at his desk, in total silence. Naruto had gone to the store, so he knew he would have at least thirty minutes to himself. He couldn't believe he'd almost cried in front of Karin. What was he? Some stupid little girl who'd just had her heart broken? He hadn't even had his heart broken, he was just getting himself worked up over Itachi...

"Itachi," he muttered spitting the name out, without an honorific, as if it had a bad taste to it. He didn't get what the big deal about his older brother was. Of course, he was a freaking genius, way smarter that Sasuke, or even Shikamaru, who's IQ was off the charts, despite his lazy demeanor. But that didn't mean everyone had to worship the ground he walked on. It was bad enough that mother and father liked Itachi better, and that his father was always forcing him to live in the older Uchiha's shadow; why did Naruto have to succumb to Itachi-fever as well?

Sasuke punched the desk, finding himself imagining it was his brother's face. 'Fuck, it wasn't even Itachi that saved him! If I hadn't spotted him lying in the trees, Itachi would have just passed him by,' he thought, incredibly jealous that Naruto had fallen for his brother and not him.

Just as he felt as if he were about to scream, Sasuke realized how irrational he was being. It wasn't Itachi's fault that he was prefect. In fact, he remembered idolizing his older brother when they were younger as well. Of course, just like everyone else, he'd often been too busy to pay much attention to Sasuke; he'd just been the only one to ever feel guilty about it.

'He really is fucking perfect,' Sasuke thought. 'I can't even compete with him... but that's no one's fault but my own.' Sasuke felt guilty about blaming Itachi for everything. That, he felt, only served as more proof as to why he would always be the worthless one.

Sasuke's hand drifted absently to the drawer in his desk, reaching out for the one thing that would comfort him in this state. His hand closed around the cool plastic of his box cutter. He felt his heartbeat slow as he gazed at it. It had been a while since he'd done this, but his body somehow knew what was coming; relief.

Disturbingly, he felt a surge of excitement as he heard the familiar clicking sound of the blade sliding from its sheath, every trace of rage at his brother now forgotten. His breath came in ragged gasps as he thought about how fucking worthless he was- what a complete and utter piece of trash, a burden on his family and spiteful towards the only one who ever loved him. He pushed up his left sleeve, revealing scars- some white and thin, some thicker and pink- criss-crossing his wrist.

The cool metal touched a spot of unmarred skin on his forearm, giving him goose bumps, and the point of the blade dug in, making just a little indent. He pushed harder, so that it just punctured the skin and dragged it across the width of his arm. Blood slowly began to fill the white gash, and Sasuke sighed with contentment. God, he loved that feeling. Nothing could take away his hurt, all of his self hatred, and make him okay again like the feeling of his own flesh tearing.

He watched the blood bead, then slowly trickle down the sides of his arm in fascination. He slid the blade across his arm again, this time pushing harder, creating a deeper wound. For the first time since he began cutting, he found himself noticing that the strokes of the blade brought him no pain.

Without warning, a tear splashed onto the deeper cut, stinging enough to bring more tears to his eyes. He rubbed the tear into his white flesh, smearing blood with it. Funny. He hadn't even noticed he was crying. 'Such a fucking baby...' he thought, bringing the blade to his arm again, rapidly slashing his arm over and over again, creating one cut, two... Three.. Eight... Twelve... Twenty.

When he finally felt calm again, he dropped the box cutter onto the floor, where it landed with a muffled thump. His wrist was a bloody mess, and Sasuke found himself unable to remember the last time he'd hurt himself this badly.

Sasuke dried the last of his tears with his un-abused arm, and stood on unsteady feet. Walking to the bathroom, he checked the hallway before leaving, to ensure that he would not run into anyone in this state. He held his arm, making sure the blood didn't drip onto the floor. When he reached his destination, he opened the cabinet beneath the sink, reaching to the back where he hid bandages for his self inflicted wounds and a small towel, red, so the blood stains wouldn't show up.

Sasuke gently cleaned the blood off his arm, catching a glimpse of the damage- angry red, bleeding welts on his otherwise smooth skin- before the gashes filled with blood again. Feeling a strange mixture of pride and shame, he admired the cuts for a moment before wrapping them tightly in the white gauze and rolling down his sleeve.

He sank to the floor, resting his forehead against the cool porcelain of the sink, feeling suddenly exhausted. 'God, I fucking hate myself,' he thought, wishing he had the courage to just end it all.

Finally, he stood up and dragged himself to bed. He wrapped the covers around himself, getting that cold, numb feeling he always got when he cut. Just as he felt himself drifting off into the warm comfort of sleep, the sound of his phone ringing aroused him.

It was Karin. Surprised, and a bit curious, Sasuke yawned, then answered with a sleepy, "Hello?"

"Sasuke...?"

"That's me."

"Um, hi... I, uh, got your number from Shika..." She sounded nervous.

"Okay."

She laughed a bit a this typical Sasuke response. "I was just calling to see of you were okay... You, uh, looked kind of upset today, after school..."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. She must have noticed those stupid, weak tears in his eyes. "If you're calling to make fun of me, I swear I will-"

"No, no, that's not it at all," she assured hurriedly. "I really was just worried about you..."

Her voice was soft, and full of genuine concern. Sasuke was at a loss for words. All he could think to say was, "Oh." Then, more softly, "Why?"

"Because we, you know, care about you. Me, Gaara, and Shikamaru. I know the boys don't show it too much, but they really do. And I know you don't really consider me a friend, but I care about you, too..."

Sasuke could picture her now, sitting legs crossed on her bed, toying with a stand of her bright red hair. He smirked. "You just saying that because you want to get in my pants?"

"No! Trust me, pretty boy, I am SO over you!" Both of them laughed, and Sasuke traced his fingers over his bandages. For some reason, he didn't feel so tired anymore. "But really, I'm not like those other girls. Ever since I started dating Shika, any way. You're like my little brother or something, now. I know I don't know you too well, but I feel protective of you any way, and I don't want to see you sad..."

Sasuke felt his throat tighten. He tried desperately to come up with the words to tell her how much that meant to him, but couldn't.

"Okay, well, I guess I'd better go..." Karin said sadly, taking his silence to mean she'd freaked him out.

Surprisingly, Sasuke felt a bit disappointed. "Okay, bye..."

"Bye."

"And, Karin?" he added, not wanting her to think that her phone call hadn't actually cheered him up.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Naruto scanned the shelves of the candy aisle, trying to find a bag of Itachi's favorite sweets. The older male would be home in just six more days, and he wanted to make sure the pantries were full of the kinds of things he liked to eat. Naruto pulled a large bag of strawberry licorice off of the shelf, placing it next to several boxes of dumpling mix and a bag of soy beans to make natto with.

Pleased with his selections, Naruto began walking towards the register, but at a last minute thought, veered off in the direction of the produce section. As he grabbed a few large, ripe tomatoes (Sasuke's favorite), he felt an odd prickly feeling on the back of his neck, and froze.

Was that person watching him, again? As casually as he could, he tied off the thin plastic bag of tomatoes, and turned, walking slowly towards the back where they kept the fruits. Sure enough, apparently thoroughly examining the avocados was a large, muscular, orange haired man. In the very back, where they kept the dairy, the white haired man from the courtyard busied himself comparing nutrition information on two brands of yogurt, but Naruto could see that he was sneaking glances this way.

'So, that settles it,' Naruto thought to himself. 'Those guys are following me. But... why?' He walked over to where they kept the eggs, in a position so that he could see both of them clearly. As he looked up, both focused on the objects in hand, pretending as if they were just normal shoppers who were really into getting the best avocado and the healthiest yogurt.

Just as their gaze was turned, Naruto ducked behind the orange stand, where he could see them clearly while he was hidden from view. The white haired man glanced up casually, then looked confused as he realized Naruto was no longer in sight. He abandoned both packages of yogurt and hurriedly walked to where the redhead stood. Naruto could just hear him mutter, "Shit, where'd he go?"

The two left the produce section, probably assuming he'd gone to check out. Naruto slowly stood, deciding it was his turn to do some following, and left in the same direction, abandoning his basket. The white haired man cursed a few more times, as he realized Naruto was not there either. "What should we do?" he asked the large red head.

The larger man hummed in thought. "Well, it seems we've lost him for now. Let's just call it quits for today." Naruto was surprised by the calm of his voice.

The white haired man growled. "Damn, how the hell are we going to do what we're supposed to do, if we can't even keep track of the kid?" he hissed angrily. Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. What were these guys supposed to do to him? What did they want from him? Were they trying to kidnap him or hurt him or something?

The red head put a large hand onto the smaller man's shoulder, as if to comfort him, but he shrugged it off, crossing his arms. "We'll start tailing him again tomorrow at school. He'll be safe for now. He probably just went home. And HE isn't stupid enough to show himself on the property of Uchiha Fugaku himself."

Naruto scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. They wanted him safe? And who was this other guy the ginger was talking about? What did Sasuke and Itachi's father have to do with him?

The silver haired man sighed. "Yeah, you're right... and we don't even know if he's the right one. I mean, we haven't even seen the pendant yet."

Naruto's hands flew to his chest, where his spiral pendant rested beneath his shirt. He suddenly had a very bad feeling. Who were these people? The two men left the store, and Naruto watched them go. 'There's no way this is all in my head,' he thought as he walked back to where he left his basket. Feeling numb and afraid, he, almost on autopilot, paid for his things and walked home.

"Dinner's ready!" Mikoto called from the kitchen. Within moments, four out of five seats were filled by Naruto and the three present Uchihas. She frowned as she realized that her husband had once again brought paperwork from the police station to the dinner table. He had been doing that a lot lately despite Mikoto's protests.

The four ate in silence until Mikoto broke it, in an attempt to make conversation. "So, how was every one's day?" The other three merely mumbled, "fine," and then allowed the silence to settle back over the room.

It was a few more moments until some one spoke again. "Father..." Sasuke began, "I got a 93 on my Calc test last week."

There was a short silence, pregnant with tension. "A 93? Is that all?" came Fugaku's response. He didn't even bother to glance at his son.

Mikoto shot her husband a glare. "Good job, Sasuke," she said softly.

Sasuke looked down at his plate, not bothering to thank her. Everyone at the table knew that her approval was not what he was seeking.

Naruto found himself feeling sorry for Sasuke. Something like this would happen pretty much every night. He remembered, when they were little, how Sasuke used to lie in bed, crying afterwards. He didn't cry anymore, but Naruto could see his father's dismissals still hurt him. He just couldn't understand why Sasuke subjected himself to this torture every night. Perhaps he thought that, if he could just get his father to say he was proud of him, even if it was just once, all of the pain would worth it.

Not for the first time, Naruto found himself thinking of how lucky he was that he was not the son of such a cold man. Though Mikoto welcomed him with open arms, and even allowed him to call her mom, Fugaku treated him more like a house guest. He called the blond Uzumaki-san, and in turn, Naruto called him Uchiha-sama. Naruto was fine with that; he had Mikoto as his loving surrogate mother, and he was free from Fugaku's emotional abuse; it was the best of both worlds.

Mikoto's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "Naruto, you're awfully quite today. Everything alright?"

Sasuke glanced up from his plate. He'd noticed that the blond had looked like he'd seen a ghost when he returned from the store, and he was curious to know what had happened.

Naruto hesitated, not sure that he wanted to let the family know that he had just discovered that there were two men stalking him, possibly in an attempt to protect him from some sort of big time criminal. "Yeah... Everything's fine. I was just thinking."

Sasuke looked at him skeptically. "About what?" he asked, rejoining the dinner conversation.

Naruto flinched. He should have known that Sasuke wouldn't believe him. They knew each other too well. Naruto wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling that it would be best to lie. "I was thinking about Itachi-san coming home. I bought stuff for Natto. We should make some for him."

Mikoto grinned widely. "That's a great idea! We can have it ready so he can have it with dinner his first night back. Oh, I do wonder why he's coming home two weeks early... Do you think he finished his coursework and they let him out early?"

Fugaku nodded. "That's what he said on the phone." There was a hint of pride in his voice.

"Oh, well you never said that!" Fugaku shrugged his apology. He'd been busy working on a case at the time, and only briefly mentioned the news of his older son's plans to return to his wife. "Well, he did take all of those online classes and such, so I shouldn't be surprised he finished early. I suppose I'll have to get his room ready..." Mikoto continued, gushing with excitement at the prospect of having her oldest son home.

Sasuke sighed. He wasn't sure what to feel about his brother's return. He finished the rest of his meal in silence. Then excused himself from the table. No one took notice of his leave in the midst of their conversation about Itachi.

Sasuke locked himself into the bathroom, rolling up his sleeve to check his bandages. There were a few spots where the cuts had been particularly deep and had bled through. Slowly, he unwrapped the gauze. Save for three especially deep wounds, they had all stopped bleeding.

Sasuke balled up the bloody bandages, and flushed them down the toilet. He ran his arm under the sink, washing away all of the dried blood and turning the water pink. The cuts no longer looked like welts, but rather bright red lines against his white skin. They looked almost cartoonish, they were so red.

Still feeling depressed, Sasuke felt the urge to cut again, but pushed it down. His arm already felt stiff and sore from the wounds present, and he knew it would be stupid to add more. Sighing, he wrapped the still bleeding ones with fresh gauze, then pushed down his sleeve, wincing as the rough fabric applied friction against the torn flesh.

"What's the report?" came the gravely voice of a tall, muscular brunet, sitting on the sofa of a large hotel suite.

The white haired man bared his razor sharp teeth, violet eyes burning. "We lost him, Zabuza," he growled, still angry about his failure at the supermarket.

The man called Zabuza frowned. This could be bad. He felt his muscles tense in anger. Couldn't these idiots do anything right? Just as he was about to curse out the two younger men in front of him, he felt a soft, thin hand on his bare shoulder. He turned his head to face the slim, effeminate male beside him.

"Calm down. Juugo-san would like to say something," he pointed out gently, gesturing to the quite red head in the corner.

Zabuza merely grunted, his anger melting away at the look in his companion's chocolate brown eyes. He fought the urge to stroke the long, silky ebony locks of his hair, and instead turned his head to the man called Juugo.

"We checked on him about twenty minutes ago. He arrived home safely," the ginger said in that calm tone of his.

Juugo was larger and more muscular than Zabuza, but he was also ten times more gentle. Just don't get him angry. 'No wonder he and Haku get along so well,' he thought referring to the feminine male, whose hands now stroked Zabuza's knotted muscles. "That's good."

The white haired male reached for his hip flask, draining the rest of his water. "Just saying, it was my idea to check on the kid."

"Shut up, Suigetsu," Zabuza growled. "Have you confirmed that this is the kid we're looking for? Any sign of the pendant?"

Suigetsu, not even flinching at the older man's tone, shook his head. "It might be under his clothes, or at home somewhere." Absently, he fingered his own pendant, shaped like the Chinese lantern fruit.

Zabuza sighed, frustrated. He remembered how, when he had escaped HIS clutches, the first thing he had done was throw out his own peach shaped pendant. He was pretty sure that Naruto was the one, but still, he hoped the kid hadn't done the same. It would needlessly complicate things. "Obviously we need to get closer to him. I have just the plan too..."

Suigetsu rose an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Zabuza's eyes turned to Haku and Suigetsu. "Guess who Konoha High's two new transfer students are?" Haku's eyes widened in shock, and Suigetsu looked incredulous.

"Will that work?" Juugo asked. "After all, there are only two weeks until school lets out for the summer."

"Yep. I already had it cleared by the school. I told them a family emergency required us to move to Konoha from China, and that it was best if you finished your credits here. Naturally, both of you have the same schedule as the kid."

Suigetsu looked like he was going to cry. "You want me to go to school? And pretend to be Chinese?" 'I'm too lazy for this,' he added in his head.

"You'll be fine. You don't have to pass or anything, just make friends with the kid, give yourself an excuse to be around him over the summer. We can look after him better that way."

Recovering from his initial shock, Haku nodded. It would look a bit suspicious, but less so than blatantly stalking the kid. "What about Juugo? He's our age."

Zabuza shook his head. "He's too big to pass for a high-schooler. Hell, I'd have an easier time of it, and I'm almost forty. No, the papers I had faked list us as your legal guardians."

Suigetsu snickered childishly. "So we've got two daddies?"

Zabuza glared. "The story is that you and Haku are distant cousins. Both of you were orphaned in that bad earthquake five years ago, and you've been living with us ever since. I'm your uncle, he's your other cousin."

Suigetsu frowned. "It would have been more fun the way I said it... So, what's the supposed family emergency?"

"Juugo is having an extensive, life threatening surgery on his spinal cord. We came to see a specialist. If anyone asks, just say you don't know the word for it in Japanese."

Juugo frowned, looking down at his pendant, in the shape of an Othello game piece. "I hope this works out.."

"It has to," Zabuza. "We need to keep HIM away from the kid, no matter what." Everyone nodded in agreement. "I've borrowed a house from one of my contacts. It's ours as long as we need it. We'll move there this weekend. Now, Suigetsu, you get some rest. You start school tomorrow." He stood, a smirk spreading across his face. "Haku, I believe we have some things to take care of before we officially become uncle and nephew." Haku blushed and nodded, standing as well.

Suigetsu made a gagging noise, and walked off to the room he shared with Juugo- who followed shortly after him- muttering something under his breath about "damned pedophiles."

As Juugo shut the door behind him, he felt the need to point out, "Haku-san is 18; he's legal. So Zabuza-san isn't technically... One of those."

"Yeah, not anymore." Suigetsu rolled his eyes. "But those two have been going at it for years." He smirked. Either way he was going to have fun alluding to the "special" relationship between his "cousin" and their "uncle..."

Karin lay on her bed, thinking over her short conversation with Sasuke. There was something about the way he'd said, "thank you" as they hung up that bothered her. Karin had always been extremely perceptive, more so than other women even, and she could hear something in Sasuke's voice that made her heart hurt. Like, just by telling him that there were people cared about him it was as if she'd thrown him a life preserver just as he was about to give up and go under.

Ever since she'd met him, Sasuke had always seemed lonely to her. And sad. Sad and lonely Sasuke. But he'd never really wanted friends, either. It was like he started to feel guilty when anyone tried to get close to him. Karin didn't understand why. It was like he was desperate for a friend, but was afraid... Maybe that he wouldn't be good enough?

Karin let out a sigh, and closed her eyes. She'd had enough worrying about Sasuke for one day. She hugged the fabric of Shikamaru's old T-Shirt to her chest, and drifted off into sleep.

She stood, trembling in the midst of the hallway, clutching a small teddy bear that smelled like fresh rain to her side.

-Mommy? Daddy?

There was no response. She knew it. They were dead. On unsteady feet, she walked into the room. Her parents lay on the floor, slain. She could no longer see their life force.

Dropping the bear, she ran. She didn't know where she would go. All she knew was that she didn't want to stay here. Then suddenly, out of the gloom, came a voice like honey. Or was it venom?

-Where are you going, dear?

She froze, turning to face the figure.

-Who are you?

The man laughed, and she shivered.

-I saw what happened. How come that robber didn't kill you too?

She hesitated. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to people about her premonitions. Mommy said they would lock her up.

-I... I felt them coming... So I hid.

The figure turned his amber gaze on her.

-Felt them?

The figure took a step towards her. She took three steps back, suddenly terrified.

-S-stay away from me...! Your aura is scary!

The snake man stared at her intrigued. She swallowed. The man would lock her up for good, just like mommy always said.

-My aura...? Well, you certainly are a talented little girl, aren't you?

She said nothing. The man didn't think she was crazy?

-Come, Karin. Join me. Face it; you have nowhere else to go.

The man held out his hand, smiling. She shrank against the wall. How did he know her name?

-I'll take care of you. Be your protector.

She reluctantly took his hand. After all, she did have nowhere else to go, and he did promise to take care of her.

What other choice did she have?

Karin awoke, heart racing, breaths coming in quick gasps, and drenched in a cold sweat. Her hands flew to the pendant she always wore around her neck, shaped like a tiny perfume bottle.

She'd had nightmares before, about finding her parent's dead bodies, but what was that part at the end?

Who was that man? 


	4. What are you Scared Of?

**My goodness, I just cannot figure out this page break business! :( It's like it just clears anything remotely similar to a page break. I've tried underscores, periods, and asterisks. I'm going to be using words for page breaks now. I apologize. :c**

**Chapter Title: What are you Afraid Of?**  
><strong>Chapter Pairings: ShikaKarin, SasoDei, oneside!ItaNaru, SasuNaru<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Warnings: Language, themes of suicide<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Summary: Naruto finds out something about his stalkers that piques his curiosity. Meanwhile, Karin has made it her goal to make Sasuke's aura a little lighter, no matter what.<strong>

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Suigetsu glared at the gates of Konoha High, as if willing them to simply disappear. Though he would never admit it out loud, he was pretty much scared shitless. His mouth was dry, his hands shook slightly, and his stomach seemed to thing it was suddenly an acrobat. Suigetsu had been through hell and back in his time at that place (he shuddered to think about it), but still he felt the old irrational fear- the one developed in the few years he had actually showed up for school- creeping up on him.

Suigetsu pressed his fingers against the pendant tucked neatly beneath his purple wife beater, oddly enough taking comfort in the thought that, if school was as bad as it had been for him before the incident with HIM, he could always ditch Zabuza and what he affectionately called the Naruto Protection Squad and go back.

Ahead of him, Haku waited patiently, comprehending, though not understanding, his companion's irrational fear. "Suigetsu, are you coming?"

Suigetsu felt himself have a mini heart attack at Haku's words. "Just a minute," he stuttered. 'God, I'm such a pussy!' Suigetsu groaned, knowing that he couldn't put off the inevitable much longer. 'I've got frickin' butterflies in my stomach. How manly is that?'

Haku frowned. "Suigetsu, time is of the essence. HE has likely located the missing experiment by now, and its only a matter of time before he sends one of his lackeys to retrieve him. We need to confirm that Naruto is experiment 351 as soon as possible, and then put all of our effort into keeping him safe."

Suigetsu sighed. He knew how important it was that HE didn't reclaim the kid, but still... "Yeah, yeah, I know... What's his pendant supposed to look like anyway?" Reluctantly, Suigetsu stepped through the gates and set off for the main office where they, as new students would be required to check in. Each step, he noted, felt like torture.

"The fact book Zabuza-san got from one of his contacts describes it as looking like a spiral." Haku looked down to where the tiny snowflake rested on his chest, secured by a beaded chain, wondering what powers had been bestowed upon the runaway experiment.

"Spiral, huh?" Suigetsu wrapped his arms around his chest as he felt the blast of air conditioning from the building surrounded him. Reflecting on the importance of their mission, he set his jaw, determined to make it through the day. "I can't wait to see the look on Orochimaru's face when he realizes that all of his little runaways are ganging up on him."

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Naruto stared at the lump of clay in front of him in first period pottery. The assignment was to make an animal, any animal. He had tried molding a fox from the lump, but it didn't really even resemble one in the slightest.

He glanced across the table at one of his best friends, a pink haired, green eyed beauty named Sakura, who was forming a kitten out of the gray substance. It wasn't the best, but at least it looked like a kitten. Beside him, his other best friend, a feisty brunet named Kiba lazily sculpted a dog from the clay. Again, not the best, but you could tell it was a dog, at least.

At the end of the long table sat two of Sasuke's friends, whom Naruto did not know very well. The red head, Karin, looked exhausted and troubled, but still she effortlessly carved away at her already perfect looking hawk. Shikamaru, her boyfriend, was distracted too, stealing nervous glances at his unusually quiet girlfriend, but equally effortlessly molded a magnificent looking forty point buck.

Naruto sighed looking at his roommate's friends' perfect work and giving up on his own. Mind wandering, he vaguely wondered if they were talking about Sasuke and his odd behavior as of late. Naruto was dense, he wasn't afraid to admit it, and knew that if he'd noticed, then Karin and Shikamaru, both in the top five of their respective classes, had probably noticed long before he did.

Naruto's musings went on for a good five minutes before he was interrupted by a delighted gasp. Turning his head, Naruto came face to face with their blond, blue eyed teacher, Deidara. Naruto looked around, wondering who the recipient of his sensei's praise was, when it became evident that he was admiring his failed creature. Naruto began to cheer up. Maybe his fox wasn't as bad as he thought after all!

"A wallaby, yeah?" he exclaimed, lifting up Naruto's fox. "It's so cute, yeah! Makes me want to blow it to pieces!"

Naruto mentally face-palmed. Wallabies looked nothing like foxes... "Yeah, I thought I'd do something a little different..." he said, not bothering to mention that he'd done it all unintentionally.

Deidara beamed at him. "Good work, but to make it more wallaby-ish try making it sitting up, yeah. They look so funny on all fours with their tiny front arms, so doing it like this," he demonstrated by reshaping the torso, "will make it look much more realistic, yeah." Naruto stared at his fox-turned-wallaby in awe. Like that, it really did look better. He supposed that, subconsciously he really wasn't half bad at clay.

"Definitely A plus material," Deidara continued. He brushed a few strands of blond hair away from his face, revealing just the corner of the eye-patch he wore over his left eye, leaving a gray smudge on his cheek. "So, I heard Itachi's coming home soon?"

Naruto blushed slightly, and nodded. Sasuke's older brother and his ceramics teacher had been in a small theatre group called Akatsuki when they were in high school, though from what Naruto gathered, Itachi and Deidara had never gotten along. They had, however, hung out with the same group of friends, and were still in contact.

"He called us up one day," by 'us,' Naruto knew he meant his lover, Sasori, another of their mutual friends, as it was unlikely Itachi would ever specifically call the rambunctious blond, "And he's like, blah blah, I'm a genius, already done with all my course work, you know, typical Itachi stuff, yeah. And then he starts talking about coming back home, and how he has- quote, unquote- big news, yeah? So we're like, 'huh?', 'cause you know how mysterious and stuff the brat likes to be, and he wouldn't even give us a hint!" Deidara huffed, as if getting angry just at the memory of Itachi's cliff hanger.

Naruto found himself getting curious. What could Itachi's big news be?

At the sound of the classroom door opening, Deidara walked off to attend to the newcomers, and Naruto turned his attention back to his clay.

"I thought yours was supposed to be a fox?" Kiba asked, smirking, once their sensei was out of earshot. Sakura giggled at his flustered look as she molded a bow for her kitten.

Naruto opened his mouth, ready to defend his lack of artistic abilities, when Deidara's voice interrupted him. "Class, looks like we have two new students," he began, looking confused. "Even though school's practically over... Well, you two introduce yourselves, yeah."

Naruto looked up at the front of the room and felt his heart skip a beat and his mouth go dry. Standing at the front of the room was none other that his white-haired stalker, and some girl he'd never seen before, but whom he was sure was related to the other somehow.

What were they doing here? What did they want from him?

The white haired man looked nervous and fidgety, and elbowed the girl to speak first. She smiled, and half of the boys melted. "Hello, my name is Yuki Haku." She gestured to the male next to her, "This is my cousin Hozuki Suigetsu. Due to some... unfortunate circumstances, my family and I were required to move here from Yantai, China. I am glad to meet all of you, and I look forward to finishing my school in such a wonderful place!" She bowed cutely, then added, "Also, just so there isn't any confusion, I'd like you all to know that I'm a boy." The guys in the class groaned, muttering in disappointment.

Beside him, Kiba leered. "Damn, I'm not even into guys and I'd tap that," he whispered to Naruto, who could only laugh nervously.

Sakura looked at him oddly. "Are you okay? You look pale all of a sudden..." she noted softly.

Naruto tried his best to swallow, pushing down the feeling of awful panic. "I'm fine," he managed to choke out as the two began to walk toward their table.

Naruto kept quiet as they sat down and Sakura introduced herself and Naruto. The effeminate male called Haku smiled amicably at him. He didn't look very dangerous, but the one called Suigetsu looked strong enough to pose a legitimate threat...

Kiba grinned at Haku, introducing himself. "My name's Kiba, Inuzuka Kiba. Although I'm sure you remember me?"

Haku frowned, a look of confusion spreading across his delicate features. "I'm afraid I don't..."

Kiba feigned a look of shock, and Sakura rolled her eyes, having heard this exact line used on her before. "Really? Because we talk in my dreams every night! Maybe if you give me your number I could jog your memory."

Suigetsu snickered. "Uncle wouldn't like that..." Haku kicked him, hard, in the shin under the table, causing him to double over in pain.

Pretty smile back in place, he turned to Kiba. "I'm flattered, but I'm already taken."

Naruto stared at Suigetsu who had tears in his eyes from the kick. Naruto discarded his prior assumption, deciding that he would need to watch out for both of them.

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By the end of the day, Naruto felt sick with fear. The two newcomers had been present in every one of his classes. Though they made no move to do anything to harm him, he could feel their eyes on him constantly. He found himself thinking back to the conversation between Suigetsu and the red head in the supermarket. 

_"We'll start tailing him again tomorrow at school. He'll be safe for now. He probably just went home. And HE isn't stupid enough to show himself on the property of Uchiha Fugaku himself."_

These guys knew where he lived, they knew where he went to school, they knew that the place he lived was home to the Konoha Chief of police. And apparently they wanted him to be safe. Who was the man they spoke of? The one who wouldn't dare to show himself on the property of the Chief? Obviously a criminal of some sort... Were they criminals too? They were strange, that was for sure. Suigetsu sported a mouthful of razor sharp teeth, teeth that he never would have guessed belonged to a human. Haku was, at face value, docile and gentle, but he possessed great strength and athletic ability, something Naruto had learned in gym. The slender male had managed to complete 40 pull ups and 50 push ups faster than anyone in the class, and had finished first at sprints, running almost inhumanly fast.

And somehow, they knew about the pendant. Naruto remembered the first few days of his time with the Uchiha's, as Mikoto nursed him back to health. For some reason every time he'd seen the pendant, he had cried and felt sick to his stomach. He knew that the pendant symbolized something terrible, and that it had some sort of connection to his nightmares. But what?

He looked over to where Suigetsu sat just in time to see him turn his head back to face the teacher. Haku continued scribbling down notes (in _Japanese_, he noted, not Chinese). At the scooped neck of Suigetsu's purple top, Naruto could just make out the shape of a beaded chain. That was certainly odd. Naruto's eyes traveled to the V-neck of Haku's black long-sleeved shirt. Resting against his pale white skin was a small snowflake shaped pendant. Naruto stared, feeling suddenly curious as he realized that the necklace was nearly identical to his. Pulling out the spiral shaped piece of metal from beneath his own shirt. Aside from the shape, it was exactly the same, although, on Haku's, instead of a name, the number 182 was engraved into it.

Naruto looked back to the chain around Suigetsu's neck, wondering if he had one too. Haku noticed him staring and smiled knowingly. He no longer felt afraid, but was instead overcome by an overwhelming curiosity. Did they know something about his past that he didn't?

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"I'm worried about Sasuke," said Karin to Shikamaru, who reclined lazily on her bed. She sat at her desk, idly reading over the labels of her perfume collection.

Shikamaru sighed. "I know, me too." The two were accustomed to their friend's occasional bouts of depression, but this time felt different. "He always gets touchy when Itachi comes to visit," he mentioned for her benefit, Karin having not known Sasuke well until quite recently. "And his dad's sort of an asshole. He doesn't like Sasuke much, but Itachi's his pride and joy."

He yawned, and Karin waited for him to continue. Shikamaru took his time, spending it contemplating whether or not to reveal this next bit of information. "Back when Itachi was still at home, their parents used to fight all the time. His mom was always trying to get his dad to treat Sasuke better, but... Well, let's just say it's fairly obvious where Sasuke gets his stubbornness from."

Shikamaru let his mind wander, again contemplating how much of their friend's personal life to reveal.

flashbackflashbackflashback

Shikamaru lay in bed, trying to muster the motivation to finsh up his homework. Middle school was giving a lot more work than he expected, and it was interfering with his cloud watching hobby. Just as he was about to drift off into a work-avoiding nap, his cell phone rang. He sighed, feeling too lazy to exert the effort of a conversation grabbed the phone planning to reject the call. He hesitated when he saw the name on caller ID. It was Sasuke.

Shikamaru stared at the phone for a few seconds. He and Sasuke had been friends for about a year now, but they'd never talked on the phone before. Reluctantly, he decided to answer it- a decision that he'd be glad he'd made for the rest of his life.

"Hello?" he answered, just before the last ring. There was silence for a minute.

"Shikamaru?" Sasuke's voice sounded odd, as if he'd been crying or had a sore throat or something. And his tone... Shikamaru would never forget that tone, just as Karin described it, as if he'd thrown a drowning man a life preserver.

"Sasuke... Are you okay? You sound awful..." Shikamaru was sitting bolt upright now, worry about his friend filling him.

There was silence again, in which, in the background, he could hear people shouting and something smashing. Maybe dishes? "No. Maybe. I don't know," he said finally, his voice shaky.

Shikamaru was about to ask what was going on when the sounds of a man's voice shouting could be heard clearly in the background, "Sasuke was a mistake," followed by the shrill voice of a woman screaming at him to take it back. He heard a door slam, and then just the sound of cicadas singing, while his friend sobbed pitifully.

Shikamaru didn't know what to say. He tried offering words of comfort, but they were ineffective, leaving Shikamaru to conclude that there was nothing worse than listening to your best friend crying over the phone and knowing there was nothing you could do to make it better.

"Shika..." he began as his sobs died down. "I can't take it anymore..." His voice was barely a whisper. "I just want to die so fucking bad."

Scratch that; there was nothing worse than hearing your best friend telling you that he wants to kill himself over the phone.

"Sasuke, you can't!" he'd shouted in alarm.

"I could, Shikamaru, and it would be so easy... I'd have a choice, too. I could swallow a bunch of pills, or drown myself. Walk into traffic, or drink bleach. I could use father's gun and just pull the trigger, or throw myself off of the roof or a bridge. I could electrocute myself in the bathtub, or slit my wrists and bleed out. I could hang myself, or suffocate myself with a plastic bag. It would just be so easy... Way easier than living."

Shikamaru was silent for a moment, too horrified to speak. "Where are you?"

"Outside my house." Shikamaru could tell he was crying again, this time with less emotion somehow. As if he was just numb. With a pang, he realized that he was crying too.

Shikamaru blinked away the tears and began to dress. "Stay right there and please, please, don't do anything stupid. I'm coming, okay?"

"Okay..." Sasuke said softly. "By-"

"No. Don't say goodbye. Please, just don't." Shikamaru had pleaded, practically running out the front door. Sasuke didn't, and from that day on, they never said goodbye to each other when parting ways ever again.

After that was all a blur to Shikamaru. He didn't remember what he said exactly, but he knew that, somehow, he had saved Sasuke's life that night. He remembered pleading with Sasuke to reconsider, trying to convince him that it was worth it. Trying to convince him that thing would get better. He remembered them crying and holding each other, holding on for dear life...

Much later, he found himself wondering what had caused such a bad argument between Sasuke's parents. Thinking back, he remembered that their semester exam scores had been released that day. Sasuke had only placed third in their class.

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Karin was beginning to grow impatient with her boyfriend's daydreaming, and was about to say something when he finally opened his eyes, sitting up. "I won't say any more, because its not my story to tell, but Sasuke's got a major inferiority complex when it comes to Itachi. And we all know he's got it bad for Naruto, so I guess realizing that he has feelings for Itachi and not him was sort of like a slap in the face."

Karin nodded. "Poor Sasuke..." Her empathy was acting up, and it was like she could feel all of the hurt Sasuke felt from his father's emotional abuse. He tried hard to hide it, but Karin could tell from the sadness constantly wafting off of him, a deep, lonely dark blue, that he was actually really sensitive, and she couldn't imagine what living with someone like his father did to his mental state.

Karin looked over to Shikamaru, admiring his soft green aura. He always felt so relaxed, even when he was most stressed his aura still contained that beautiful green. Karin looked at her own hand, which radiated a sharp violet. Troubled. Her aura was always troubled when she was reading Sasuke's feelings. Shikamaru noticed her staring at her hand. "Purple again?"

Karin smiled softly. Shikamaru knew her too well. "Sometimes I wonder about you."

"What? You think I'm crazy, too?" he teased. She just ignored his comment, flipping him off.

She was thinking, hard. There had to be something she could do, something to make Sasuke's aura a little brighter. But what?

Shikamaru laughed at her pensiveness and motioned for her to sit beside him on the bed. She consented, and then rested her head against his chest, relishing the feel of his arms around her. They lay back, falling asleep, and Karin watched as her aura slowly faded to the same shade of green as Shikamaru's.

Karin decided. She would see Sasuke's aura turn this color of green no matter what it took.

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Sasuke traced his fingers over his healing wounds. They stood out perfectly against his skin, so bright red it looked like someone had drawn on his arm with a red marker.

"Beautiful..." he muttered under his breath, admiring his handy work. He knew it was probably crazy of him to think such a thing, and that if anyone ever found out they would probably lock him up in the nuthouse, but he didn't care.

As he cleaned up his wounds in an effort to prevent infection (he knew from experience that when you let them get infected the scars wouldn't form right- leaving an imperfection in his otherwise perfect flaws), he began to imagine what his father might say if he saw the self inflicted damage. Would he think they were beautiful too? Probably not. He would probably make some off handed comment about how Itachi never needed to cut himself to keep from falling apart.

Sasuke turned the sink off and rolled down his sleeve carefully, so as not to agitate the cuts. Exiting the bathroom, he began to wonder if he knew anyone else who did what he did. If anyone, he suspected Gaara, who always wore long sleeves. Gaara...

The sudden memory of Gaara, one of his best friends brought another thought to mind. What would he and Shikamaru say if they knew about the cutting. What would Karin say? His mother? Naruto? The thought gave him an odd, confused feeling. If they saw, would they care enough to try and make him stop? 'Probably not. They would probably just tell me to get over myself...'

With a dejected sigh, Sasuke entered the bedroom he shared with Naruto, who seemed to jump a mile high when Sasuke asked what he was doing. He turned off the monitor of the computer and flipped his cell phone, which he seemed to have been comparing to the monitor.

"N-nothing!" he shouted.

Sasuke stared at him flatly. "Right." He didn't let it show on his face, but he was curious as to what that was all about.

Naruto gave him what Sasuke suspected was supposed to be a glare (it only made him look adorable) and Sasuke snorted. He walked over to his bookshelf- which happened to be right next to the desk- and pretended to be engrossed in the titles there. Naruto watched him suspiciously, but still was not prepared when Sasuke shot out a hand lightning quick and snatched the phone off the desk.

Naruto made a cry of protest, but smirked in triumph as Sasuke unlocked the phone. "Password protected, teme."

Sasuke stared at the screen. The password consisted of four numbers... Thinking for a moment, he keyed in the combination 1, 2, 3, 4. The screen loaded and it was his turn to smirk. Naruto cursed, looking flustered.

The screen was open to the camera, specifically two photographs. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, recognizing them as the two new transfer students. "Are you stalking the new kids, dobe?"

"No," he muttered. "Look, they're the ones stalking me." He turned the monitor on, revealing the police database. He was searching for their names, although nothing came up.

Sasuke just stared at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

Naruto got up and shut the door. "You have to promise you won't tell anyone."

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke promised, and Naruto proceeded to tell him all about his encounters with the red head and the one called Suigetsu.

Upon finishing his story, Sasuke began to leave the room. "Hey, where are you going?"

"To tell father what you just told me."

Naruto stared at him, wide eyed with alarm, then ran at him, slamming him against the wall. "Sasuke, you promised you wouldn't tell!"

Sasuke glared at him. The idea that someone, more than one person, was following Naruto disturbed Sasuke. He didn't like that they knew where he lived and went to school. What if these people had something to do with Naruto's strange- and presumably dangerous past? What if they had something to do with the snake-like man of Naruto's nightmares? "Are you insane? These guys could be dangerous."

Naruto looked down, then back up at Sasuke through his lashes. "I don't think they are. I think they're trying to protect me from something..." he said, relating the tidbits of information that would prove his point. "Listen, they have pendants like the one I have. Before we go getting the police involved, I want to try and find out more on my own."

Every bone in his body screamed at Sasuke that these guys were bad news, but that look Naruto was giving him... "Fine. But you're not doing it alone. I'm going to help you."

Naruto gave him a smile so radiant it practically blinded Sasuke, who was just now noticing their compromising position. Naruto had pinned his hands against the wall on either side of him, and- God- their bodies were so close. "Thank you Sasuke!" Naruto said, genuinely, and, to Sasuke's combined surprise, delight, and horror, kissed his cheek.

Naruto ran out of the room muttering something about getting some ramen, leaving Sasuke alone in the room. His face was beet red, he could feel it, and the skin of his cheek tingled where Naruto's lips had been. He didn't know how long he stood there against the wall, trying to convince himself that he had just imagined the kiss. 'I need a cold shower,' he thought, and set off for the bathroom once again.

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"We saw the pendant, Zabuza-san. Target confirmed," Haku informed.

Zabuza nodded. "Good work. Now, keep as close an eye on him as possible. My contact has confirmed that Orochimaru is aware of Naruto's location, although it is uncertain when he will make his move."

Haku frowned, and Suigetsu growled. "Don't worry. If he tries anything, shit's gonna go down." 


	5. Cutter

**I've gotten some ideas about what I want my next fan fiction to be about. :) That one will be fun to write, I think, but I'm going to try and finish this first. It's strayed so much from what I originally intended, but it's coming out all right. I really like Karin's character, and she wasn't even in the original draft (of course because she didn't exist five years ago. :o)**  
><strong>This is a long one, although not much happens plot-wise. It's more of a set up chapter. Regardless, I hope you enjoy, and please review. :D<strong>  
><strong>Also, to Chalupa58, don't worry, in the end Naruto and Sasuke will both be fine. :)<strong>

**Chapter Title: Cutter**  
><strong>Chapter Pairings: ItaNaru, SasuNaru, ItachiXSurprise, could be GaaSasu if you squint, although I don't intend for this to be a major pairing.<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Warnings: Self mutilation, language, themes of suicide, implied childspousal abuse, sexual themes**  
><strong>Chapter Summary: Naruto is ready to confess; Itachi's return nearly pushes Sasuke over the edge, and someone finds out his secret. Meanwhile, Itachi reveals his big news. How will Naruto react?<strong>

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Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was sincerely beginning to regret his assertion to help Naruto find out what his stalkers wanted. He'd been sitting in this tree watching a red head male, whose name he'd discovered to be Juugo, and the transfer, Suigetsu watch Naruto do his homework through the window for almost an hour now, and still he'd learned nothing.

This was day four of his stalking the stalkers, and, though the job helped to take his mind off the pain of Itachi's impending visit (and presumably Naruto's joy at the same event), it did not change the fact that his older brother was due home today.

And just as he thought that, the two men jumped at the sound of a car rolling up the driveway. Sasuke slipped down the tree unnoticed and was about to move past them to slip in through the back door when he heard something odd.

Coming from the silver haired man, "Is that... Uchiha Itachi?" Sasuke stopped mid step. How did they know his brother? "Shit, we'd better tell Zabuza..." And just as quickly as they came, the two were gone.

Sasuke ran back into the house, meeting up with Naruto on his way to greet Itachi at the front door. "Hey Naruto, I heard something-" Sasuke began, but the blond cut him off.

"Can we talk later? Itachi-san is back!" He flashed Sasuke a goofy grin and ran to the front door.

Sasuke merely stood in the hallway, almost not believing that his tidbit of information had been so easily brushed off by the blond. Suddenly feeling almost as depressed as he had the day that he'd realized his feelings for Naruto, Sasuke followed slowly, sulking in the corner.

Itachi looked just as stunning as ever, clad in a dark suit and red and black striped tie, just like the business man he was going to school to be. His hair, stick straight, lay in a neat ponytail at the nape of his neck, and his skin was as white as ever, accentuating his high cheekbones and long eyelashes.

Sasuke watched, feeling oddly detached from the scene as his brother kissed their mother, shook hands with their father, and hugged Naruto (just a few seconds too long, he noted with a pang). No one took any notice of him standing in the corner. Well, no one except the guest of honor himself.

Dark eyes so like his own met Sasuke's from across the room. Itachi lifted a brow slowly, as if beckoning him to come over and join the conversation. Sasuke merely shook his head, almost imperceptibly, and slipped back into the hallway. Once he was out of sight, he ran to his bedroom and locked the door.

He slid to the floor, breathing heavily. 'It would be so easy to hate him,' Sasuke thought miserably, 'if he weren't the only one who cared...' He crawled over to his desk, yanking open the drawer that held his salvation.

It was empty.

Sasuke felt a panicky feeling in his stomach. Where was his box cutter? He tore open the next drawer rummaging frantically through it. There was nothing there either.

Sasuke spent the next five minutes turning the room upside down, to no avail. He sat on his bed trying to think. Where had he seen it last? 'On the floor, of course,' he thought, remembering that he had indeed forgotten to put away the box cutter when he was done with it.

With a start, Sasuke realized his hands were shaking. His skin itched to feel the cool steel penetrating it. Desperately, he reached for the first sharp object he could find, a pencil, and dug it into his skin, dragging it along the length of his forearm. It was messy, it hurt, and it drew very little blood, but after a few scratches he began to feel calmer.

"God, I'm so pathetic," he muttered as he pulled the pencil across his already throbbing arm again. He felt like a crack addict in withdrawal, desperately trying to trick his body into getting a high off a line of baking soda.

The pencil lead broke in his arm as he tried to complete a fifth scratch. Sasuke threw it across the room, cursing it out loud, then stood, rolled down his sleeve, and began to put the room back in order.

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Itachi knocked softly on the door that his brother and Naruto shared, listening for the muffled "come in" before entering.

Naruto sat alone in the room at his desk, writing something. As he looked up and saw who it was, his face flushed and he quickly flipped the paper over. "O-oh, Itachi-san! Hi!" He smiled sheepishly, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck.

Itachi gave a small smile in return, though it wasn't genuine. "Have you seen my brother?" he asked politely.

Naruto thought for a minute. "Not since you got home, really... He said he was going for a walk, or something."

Itachi nodded. "Thank you." He turned and left before Naruto could protest, pulled on his jacket, and slipped out the front door. He had a feeling he knew where Sasuke was. He followed the well worn path that he and Sasuke had often traveled together as children, towards the lake.

Sure enough, there he stood, up to his knees in the water reflecting the inky darkness of the night sky. Itachi walked to the bank and stood watching him for a moment. Sasuke faced away from the bank, eyes watching the moon.

"Sasuke," Itachi called, his soft words sounding ridiculously loud in the quiet of the night. Sasuke jumped slightly, the water sloshing about on his pants and turned, facing his brother.

They stood, staring at each other for a moment, then, slowly Itachi walked towards the dock, sitting at its edge. Almost subconsciously, Sasuke followed, taking the seat beside him. The two sat in silence for several minutes before it was broken by Sasuke. "What are you doing here, aniki?"

Itachi stared at the surface of the water, rippling where his toe touched it, a small smile on his face. "I came because I wanted to talk to my favorite little brother."

"Hn." Sasuke bit his lip, feeling tears coming. There was no way he was going to cry in front of Itachi.

"How have you been? Mother says you've been acting strangely lately..." Itachi glanced at him, curious.

"Everything's fine." Sasuke would never admit it out loud, but he was pretty sure his voice wobbled a bit at the end.

Of course, Itachi picked up on that. "Is it father?" he asked, voice barely a whisper.

Sasuke merely shrugged, no longer trusting himself to speak. Itachi took that as a yes and a no. The truth was, Itachi hated it when their father pointed out that he had always had significantly higher scores than Sasuke in school. He hated it when he called him a "genius." He hated the fact that Sasuke was intelligent and talented in his own right, and their father just couldn't see it.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I wish he could see how great you are without comparing you to me." Sasuke let a few tears escape, sliding down his cheeks. "You must hate me."

Sasuke shook his head, suddenly flinging his arms around the older male. Itachi returned the embrace, letting Sasuke cry into his shoulder. He didn't ask why he was crying; he didn't ask why he was soaked from head to toe in lake water. Itachi knew that if Sasuke wanted to tell him something, he would. And if he didn't, he wouldn't. That's just the way he was.

The two stayed like that for a few long moments, before Itachi stood. "It's late. Let's go home."

Sasuke dried the rest of his tears on his sleeve, which was wet already and so had little effect, and stood too. "Just a moment. You go on ahead." Itachi nodded and set back the way he came. Sasuke watched him go, and as soon as his brother's back was no longer in sight, turned back to the lake.

Slowly, he pulled the rocks from his pockets, dropping them one by one into the water and watching them sink. "I was wrong, Shikamaru. I thought this would be easy," he said softly to the wind. "It's not. Not easy at all."

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Gaara cast a sideways glance at Sasuke in third period portrait art. He looked exhausted, almost more so than the red head himself, who had suffered from severe insomnia since he was eleven. He'd heard Karin talking about Sasuke's recent depression a lot lately, almost as if she were obsessed.

From the way she spoke of it, like it was a visible dark stain on his life, Gaara could see that it was driving her crazy. He didn't quite understand her perception on the subject- from what he gathered from Shikamaru, he knew Karin was capable of seeing and feeling things that they weren't- but that didn't mean it didn't bother him too. Gaara wasn't dense, per say, but he spent much of his time daydreaming, and had not truly noticed Sasuke's change in behavior until today. Hell- the guy looked like he'd been up crying all night.

The problem with Sasuke was that, when something was bothering him, he wouldn't talk about it. He would over think things and replay bad memories over and over again until he was in a state, emotionally, where even the smallest thing seemed like the end of the world. This was something Gaara could understand. After all, before he met Hinata, he too had had the same problem.

Gaara decided inwardly that, as soon as the bell for lunch rang, he would try to talk Sasuke into opening up to him. He had a feeling that he would be the best option to be a listener to his friend's issues. Karin was to pressuring, while Shikamaru wasn't pressuring enough, and Gaara felt that he could be the healthy medium.

And true to his decision, at the sound of the bell, he stood, gathering his Prismacolors and watched Sasuke put away his charcoals. "Sasuke, may I talk to you for a few moments? Alone, please," he added quickly, knowing that having the other two around would likely be a hindrance to his goal.

Sasuke looked at him, a question in his gaze. "I guess so," he said, more surprised than reluctant. Gaara and he were not as close as they might have been considering the amount of time they spent together, and Sasuke was hard pressed to remember a time that they had been in a room alone together, much less a time they'd spoken privately.

Gaara nodded, leading them out of the classroom, down the hall, and to a secluded area of the courtyard. There was a moment of silence as each waited for the other to speak up first. Gaara supposed it was his responsibility. "How is your brother? I heard he arrived yesterday."

Sasuke didn't noticeably flinch, but Gaara caught the tightening of his friend's jaw. "He's fine. Perfect. As always," he replied, muttering the last bit.

Gaara hesitated, not wanting to ask the wrong question and scare him off. "Well, how are you? Karin and Shikamaru think that you haven't been feeling, er, well lately."

Sasuke shot him a glare. "Why does everyone keep saying things like that? I said I'm fine, so I'm fine, okay?" He turned, stalking off to who knows where.

"Sasuke, wait," he called, grabbing his friend's arm to stop him from going; Sasuke merely let out a hiss of pain at the gesture. Gaara loosened his grip, surprised- he hadn't grabbed him that hard- then, a thought occurring to him, tightened his hold again, using his other hand to yank up Sasuke's sleeve.

Gaara simply stared at the mess of Sasuke's forearm, with its criss-crossing scars and half healed wounds. Sasuke stared too, almost not believing this was happening. In a split second, the secret he'd carefully guarded for four years had been revealed.

Gently, Gaara traced his fingers over the damage, unable to look away. "You're a cutter."

Sasuke wasn't sure how to respond to that. He supposed he was a "cutter," though he'd never identified himself as such, and it felt like an odd label to have stuck to him. He entertained the idea of lying about the scars and cuts, although he couldn't think of a believable explanation. In the end, he simply nodded. "Disgusting, isn't it? What I have to do to make myself feel whole?"

Gaara smiled sadly, once again looking into Sasuke's eyes. "Disgusting? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I get it." Sasuke gave him a quizzical look, to which Gaara rolled up his sleeve to expose his shoulder. It was covered in white, puffy scars that he could see traveled down his torso. "I used to burn myself."

Sasuke felt the odd feeling dissipate. Gaara wasn't judging him; he really did understand.

"When I was growing up, I didn't have a very good home life. My father... abused me. He hit my mother, too. It wasn't so bad, it wouldn't have been so bad if it was just me..." Gaara trailed off, as if lost in memories of his past. Sasuke was silent, waiting for him to continue. "School wasn't much better. The kids there would bully me. It was like... I did this," he gestured to his shoulder, "to punish myself for being such a bad person that I was always getting beat up; at home, at school, on the way home from school... It was bad. It wasn't my fault, but I hated myself and I wanted to die. The only problem was that I was too scared to finish the job. And that only made me hate myself even more."

Sasuke glanced up, surprised. That, what Gaara had described, was exactly how he felt. "When did you stop...?"

Gaara gave a small smile. "My uncle, my father's brother, always loved my mother, and he treated me as if I were his own son. Eventually, he couldn't take seeing what that monster did to us, and he asked us to run away with him. And that's how we ended up here." Sasuke nodded, remembering the day Gaara had transferred from Suna to Konoha.

"It was a better life- better than before, but I was still hurting inside, and I still hurt myself. By then the burning became less like a punishment, and more like a comfort. Whenever I felt sad, or angry, or depressed, or sometimes even joyful, I would burn. It was like a friend to me, when I had no one else." Gaara laughed a bit, blushing. "And then I met you, and Shikamaru, and Hinata, and Karin. Soon, the four of you became my comfort, who I would turn to when things were rough, and one day, I just didn't need to burn anymore."

Sasuke stroked his arm, in awe. "I... had no idea. I wish I was that strong."

"Just keep holding on, Sasuke, and someday you will be." Gaara gently rolled Sasuke's sleeve down, covering the cuts. "Just remember that you aren't alone. And, talking about it really does help, you know."

Sasuke nodded, still staring at his sleeve. He felt honored that Gaara had trusted him with his story, and wanted to reciprocate the gesture. "I... I've tried to kill myself twice now. Both times I couldn't do it... Once, when I was younger, I heard my mother telling my brother not to take too many aspirin, or he could die, and I tried it. Obviously, I didn't take enough to overdose, but it hurt my stomach enough that I wound up telling my mom what I did. I had to get my stomach pumped and everything. I think I was ten at the time." Sasuke hesitated. It felt strange telling Gaara this. These were things he'd never told anyone, not even Shikamaru. "And then, I was going to try again, last night. I was feeling really awful. Worse than I have in a long time. I was going to drown myself. But then I thought of you guys, and my mother, and Itachi, and Naruto, and how they would feel if I... committed suicide. And I just couldn't."

Gaara nodded. "I'm glad you didn't."

Sasuke smiled. "You know what? Me too." Gaara was right: it felt amazing to be able to get this off of his chest.

The bell for last period rang, and both of them stood. "You know, if you ever need to talk, about stuff like this, you can call me. Any time, day or night. I'll pick up. I promise."

Sasuke was at a loss for words for a few moments. No one had ever promised to be there for him like that. "Thank you. I appreciate it." And then Sasuke surprised them both, by pulling the other male into a short, but tight hug. "I know you don't really need it, but you can call me too, okay? Anytime, I promise."

Gaara said nothing, touched. This was a first for him, too. The two locked hands in a sort of handshake for a moment, then parted ways.

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Naruto traced his fingers over the contours of Itachi's pale, but muscular chest. His own tan skin contrasted well with the creamy whiteness beneath him.

Itachi reached up ghosting his fingertips over the curve of his jaw, sending chills down his spine. Naruto leaned forward, kissing the older male chastely on the lips, although it didn't stay that way for long; Itachi's tongue stroked his lower lip, and Naruto gave him entrance almost immediately, deepening the kiss.

Naruto shifted himself so that he straddled Itachi's thin waist and leaned forward on his elbows so that he could press their hips together as close as possible while still maintaining his on top position. Itachi moaned softly, arching his back and rubbing himself against the other male.

Tilting his head slightly, Naruto lightly kissed along the length of his jaw, then his neck, and finally his collar bone, nipping lightly at the soft flesh. Sliding his hands lower, he-

Naruto blinked out of his daydream at the sound of the front door slamming. What was he doing again...? Right, studying for his geometry final. Naruto sighed, letting his face fall onto the page. There was no way he wanted to do this. Tossing his books aside and groaning (from the sheer torture that was the right triangle, not the pleasure of his Itachi fantasy), he decided to take a quick, and cold, shower. Anything as long as it gave him a reason not to think about math.

The icy water soothed him, clearing his head after he'd gotten over the shock of going from warm to cold, and, staring up at the falling water from the faucet, he contemplated the fact that the stream was so much like rain and yet it didn't bother him at all. Naruto let out a sigh, feeling the day's stresses washing away.

'As soon as I'm done with my shower, I'm going to tell him how I feel about him,' he thought determinedly. Finishing his washing, he shut the water off and got out.

He dressed quickly, towel-drying his hair into it's usual messy style, not wanting to give himself enough time to fully realize what he was about to do and chicken out.

He walked out of the room, quickly enough to arouse the attention of Sasuke who sat on his bed, reading. "Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto paused in the doorway, already beginning to feel antsy. He shifted his weight from foot to foot in anticipation. "What is it?"

He snapped his book shut, standing. "Mother wanted me to tell you, when you were done with your shower, to come to the living room."

Naruto frowned. "What for?"

"Nii-san wanted to talk to everyone about something. I guess it's a family meeting of sorts." Sasuke shrugged, following Naruto out the door and through the hallway.

Upon reaching the living room, the two sat side by side on the couch. As soon as they sat, Fugaku put aside the paperwork he'd been working on and looked up at his oldest son expectantly. He was not too pleased at having his work interrupted.

Itachi cleared his throat slightly, looking a bit nervous, something that piqued their curiosity. "Father, you recall when I told you about my visit, I mentioned that someone would be joining me several days after my arrival?"

Mikoto narrowed her eyes at her husband. "You never told me that."

Fugaku shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Oh, right. I suppose I forgot... What? I've been very busy lately," he added as his wife's glare intensified.

"Well, where will this friend stay? I haven't had a chance to prepare a room!" Fugaku shrugged.

"That won't be necessary, mother. This "friend"... is my fiancée, Yuuhi Kurenai."

A shocked silence filled the room. Even Fugaku looked stunned.

"You're getting married...? Why so suddenly? We didn't even know you were seeing someone..." Mikoto pointed out, confused.

Itachi suddenly found his fingernails rather interesting. "It was a bit of a sudden decision. Some things came up, with her job and everything, and she had to relocate here, and since I'm nearly finished with my degree, we both agreed that it would be most convenient if we got a place together in Konoha and I finished up my coursework online so that I may get to work as soon as possible. Once she arrives, we will be looking at houses."

Mikoto looked taken aback. "Well, are you sure about this? A marriage is a very big commitment, after all. I mean, do you love her?"

Itachi nodded, seeming sure of himself. "Absolutely." He glanced at his father, who still had a shocked look on his face. Itachi chuckled lightly. "Why is the idea of me getting married so surprising to everyone?"

Fugaku and Mikoto exchanged a look. "Well, son, we always sort of suspected that you, er, weren't very interested in girls."

Itachi laughed, glancing meaningfully at his younger brother. "You thought I was gay? No, not me."

Fugaku shook his head. "Well, I think your plans for the future are good. I'm glad to know that I will have someone with a stable home to take over the family business once I retire. And do you plan on having children?"

"Yes, right away," he said quickly. "She is set to arrive tomorrow afternoon. I look forward to introducing her," he continued, changing the subject.

Mikoto nodded eagerly. "I can't wait. It will be so nice to have another woman around the house. Oh, and then grandchildren!" Mikoto and Fugaku stood, offering their congratulations, the left the room, Fugaku to continue working, and Mikoto to begin thinking of ideas for the wedding.

After they were out of earshot, Itachi turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "Hm, it seems I forgot to mention that she's already six weeks pregnant. Silly me." He pressed a finger to his lips, smiling.

"What? Itachi, the eternally perfect son, knocked up his girlfriend?" Sasuke teased, managing to find humor in a situation for the first time in weeks. Then, remembering Naruto's infatuation with his older brother., glanced over to see how he was taking the big news.

To his surprise, Naruto stood, smiling. "Congratulations, Itachi-san. I'm happy for you. And I hope your dad doesn't do the math and find out his perfect son's been having premarital sex."

Itachi nodded. "I can only pray."

Naruto hugged the older male, then dismissed himself, walking off towards their room. Sasuke watched him go, marveling at how well the blond was dealing with this sudden let down. He turned to Itachi. "How well did her parents take it?"

"Fairly well. Kurenai-chan is 29, so I suppose they were a lot more lenient then they would have been if she were my age."

Sasuke smirked. "So that's it then? You're not into guys, just older women?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. And you, Sasuke? It's guys that do it for you, right?"

Sasuke nodded, biting nervously on his lower lip. "How did you know?"

Itachi ruffled his younger brother's hair. "Your feelings for Naruto-san have been clear to me for several years." Itachi turned suddenly serious. "Speaking of; I also know that he cares very deeply for me, and I'm sure that my announcement has upset him. Comfort him. It will benefit you in the long run."

Sasuke nodded, knowing he was being given very good advice. He thanked Itachi, and, offering his congratulations on his brother's engagement, left the room to follow after Naruto.

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Itachi stepped out of the house, wanting some fresh air. The truth was, he'd been very nervous to tell his parents about his recent engagement, and was relieved beyond comprehension that he'd managed to mostly dodge the question of why he'd proposed so quickly. He knew that if his father found out that they'd conceived a child out of wedlock... He shuddered at the thought of it.

He sat on the porch step, remembering Kurenai's happy blush as she'd told him she was pregnant, then her nervousness when she'd thought he was going to leave her, and finally her infinite joy as he surprised her with the platinum ring that matched the band around his own finger.

Itachi wasn't sure how to feel about becoming a father. He supposed he was plenty experienced in taking care of children; he'd looked after Sasuke for most of his life, and then Naruto after they'd sort of adopted him, but, of course, this would be his child. He'd be caring for it almost constantly. He and Kurenai would split the work, but it would still be a huge responsibility.

He wasn't sure he was ready for it, but still, he swore to himself that he would be the best father he could possibly be to his child. He wouldn't be like his father; he would treat his children with respect, and would teach them to celebrate their victories and learn from their failures. He wouldn't shove his own ideals down their throats; he would guide them into finding their own way.

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	6. Storm

So I've finally made it to five chapters! XD Yay for me. And for you, if you like the story.  
>This is another rather uneventful chapter. There will definitely be action in the next one, though. :D Also, if you think I wasn't detailed enough when I wrote about Naruto's past, let me know, and I'll be make sure I answer any lingering questions late in the story. Or you could review me just because. Please. :3<br>Nicole-chanxo- Your review means a lot. I'm glad you find it believable because I'm writing mostly from past experience on his character. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story! :D

Chapter Title: Storm  
>Chapter pairings: SasuNaru, ItaKure<br>Chapter Warnings: Gets kind of dark towards the end...  
>Chapter Summary: Sasuke attempts to comfort Naruto, but the experience only leaves him more confused, and Suigetsu decides it's time Naruto hears the truth. Meanwhile, Karin puts her plan into action, and Sasuke is getting an awful sensation that he is being watched...<p>

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Sasuke opened the door to his bedroom, tentatively. Naruto may have kept a straight face as he endured the announcement of Itachi's engagement, but Sasuke knew he must be hurting inside. If Naruto's infatuation with his older brother had gone on as long as Shikamaru and Itachi himself expected, then he couldn't have just brushed it off so easily, could he?

Naruto sat at his desk, trying desperately to take his mind off of the news by cramming as many geometry theorems as he could into the space where the memory belonged. He didn't even notice as Sasuke slipped into the room and stood behind him, staring at the he was working on. "To find leg A, you need to take the cosine of 52° times 13, not the sine."

Naruto jumped, turning in his seat to lock gazes with the dark eyed male. Sasuke gave him a sad smile, to which Naruto only glared, slamming the textbook shut. "Whatever, I'm hopeless when it comes to math anyway. The way this is going I'm going to wind up taking geometry over and over again for the rest of high school." He tugged on locks of his golden blond hair, frustrated, though not at his lack of mathematical ability. "If I get an A on the final, then I'll pass with a D. All I want is to pass this test." He sighed. "Sasuke, why do people always want what they can't have?"

If he wasn't mistaken, they weren't talking about math anymore. Sasuke sat on the edge of Naruto's bed, trying to find the right words to say. "It's just one test. So what if you fail? It's not the end of the world. Maybe... geometry just isn't right for you? You could always focus on something else. Like algebra?"

Naruto pouted. "I don't want to focus on algebra: I want geometry."

"Well, obviously geometry isn't attainable. What's the use of studying for something you're never going to get?" Sasuke felt himself getting angry at Naruto's stubbornness.

"Because maybe one day it will just click, and then all of this will be worth it."

"You know, algebra is a lot easier to understand," he ventured hesitantly, hoping that Naruto was catching his lame attempt at symbolism. Naruto just frowned, shaking his head.

"But I like geometry. I like working on it, and I like the way it makes me feel, like all of the bad stuff is washing away..." Naruto stood, walking to the window. "Geometry's been there for me my whole life. I can't just give up on it..."

Sasuke watched Naruto's back, contemplating his next move. "So has algebra. It's been there too, with you and geometry. You just never noticed it."

Naruto turned his head to face Sasuke, who was surprised to find that there were tears streaming down his face. "We're not talking about math anymore, right?"

Sasuke shook his head, resisting the sudden, fierce temptation to take the blond boy in his arms and kiss away those tears.

Naruto smirked. "So you finally get extended metaphor, teme?" He gave a pitiful laugh that slowly progressed into sobs.

Forgetting his pride and his decency, Sasuke gave into his temptation. Naruto collapsed into his open arms, burying his face against the Uchiha's shoulder, dragging them both down so that they sat on the floor. For a moment, Sasuke wondered if he was taking advantage of the upset blond, but he quickly pushed the thought into the back of his head. It felt too good to hold him. It felt too good to kiss him- even though their lips never touched. It was all just too good.

Naruto wouldn't admit it, but it felt good for him, too. It felt good to be able to cry over his lost chance at being with the one who made the rain stop. It felt good, having Sasuke's hands gently rubbing his back and stroking his hair. And the way his skin tingled where Sasuke placed his light butterfly kisses...

Before long, Naruto was calm, but still he felt more confused then ever. As his tears ceased, Sasuke stood, and, without another word, and left the room. Naruto didn't understand. Was Sasuke interested him? Or did he just see Naruto as a brother? And more importantly, was he interested in Sasuke?

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Karin ran her manicured fingers over the spines of the journals for sale. She had heard about Sasuke's cutting problem from Gaara, and, though the news was troubling and nearly turned her life-force brown with worry, she managed to find inspiration in it. She had come up with the perfect idea for her plan to make his aura a little bit lighter.

She passed over the brown, leather-bound books and pulled out a high quality hard cover one. The cover was black, adorned only with a red paint-splatter in the shape of a butterfly. It was sort of effeminate, but Karin liked the way the butterfly looked so free, as if it had been thrown into flight across the cover. Smiling, she opened the book. The pages were thick and creamy, and felt good to the touch. She had made her decision.

She pulled a package of black ink pens off of a rack above the stationery and placed it beside the journal in her shopping basket. She hurried to the register to pay for her things, knowing she was running late for the meeting she had called with Shikamaru and Gaara.

She'd taken her car, so it didn't take long for her to get back to her house, where the boys were already waiting. As soon as she walked in, she was faced with Shikamaru's grumbling about how "troublesome" she was being, and Gaara's glare, earned by her lateness. Karin brushed them off, sticking out her tongue.

"I think I know a way that we can get Sasuke to smile," she started, erupting in a grin of her own.

Inwardly, Shikamaru sighed, though Karin's plotting the past few weeks had, for the most part, gotten him used to her new obsession with Sasuke's emotions. Probably reading the exasperation in his aura, she shot him a glare. "I know what you're thinking, and I'm not obsessed. I'm just really worried that he might... do something stupid..."

Both of them knew that by "something stupid," she meant "kill himself." And both knew that it was a very real possibility.

Shikamaru sighed again. "I know, I'm worried too." He didn't particularly want to deal with this. Sasuke was his best friend, and he'd rather not think about him being in such a dire state. But at the same time he knew he had to. And despite his denial, if there was something that they could do to potentially save Sasuke's life, Shikamaru would do it. No matter what. He sat up from his reclining position, and Gaara took the spot beside him. "What's your idea?"

Karin tore open the package of pens and handed one to each of them. The boys looked at them, confused. Gaara opened his mouth to speak, uncapping his pen, though his question was answered as she, smile  
>once again in place held up the journal.<p>

Shikamaru frowned. Still unsure what she wanted them to do. Karin rolled her eyes at their impatience and opened the book to the blank, unlined, cover page. She uncapped her pen and, in a beautiful, flowing calligraphy, wrote something down. As she finished, she put the pen to the side and showed them what she had written.

Their eyes widened in dawning realization, and Karin's smile stretched even further. Gaara nodded slowly. "I like this idea."

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Naruto sat in Literature, for the first time not paying any attention to the lecture at all. His fingers absently toyed with the pendant around his neck, his bright blue eyes stealing the occasional glance at the dark haired male beside him. Sasuke hadn't spoken a word to him since he'd walked out of the room the other night, and Naruto was confused as hell. Sasuke had kissed him, hadn't he? He knew he hadn't been imagining the feel of Sasuke's lips all over his face, albeit nowhere near his own. And it wasn't as if Naruto had been the one doing the kissing, so why was Sasuke the one acting weird?

He sighed, looking down at his notebook. He'd been trying to catch Sasuke's gaze, to see if he could get the stoic teen to give him an explanation for this sudden cold shoulder, but it was no use. He sat, back rigid in his chair, staring intently at the front of the room as if their final exam review was the most interesting thing in the world. Naruto knew it was an act. Sasuke never paid attention in Lit.

He flipped through the pages, smiling sadly at all of the scribbling about his "undying love" for Itachi in the margins of the pages, heartbreak still fresh on his mind. His feeling just seemed stupid now. They never would have worked. After all, Itachi was almost six years older than him, straight, and completely in love with some woman who was now carrying his child. He wondered what she was like. If she was beautiful. Kind. If she made him laugh and smile. 'Whoever this chick is,' Naruto thought, 'she'd better realize the she's the luckiest person alive to have him.'

His thoughts continued distractedly along this path as the lesson wore on, such that he almost missed the soft "plop" of a folded up piece of paper being dropped on his desk. He stared at it in surprise. Had it come from Sasuke? No, he was still pretending to be engrossed in the lesson. Curious, but hesitant, Naruto unfolded the note and took in the chaotically sprawling handwriting.

"Naruto- Meet us in the courtyard after school. We'll explain everything there. -Suigetsu"

Naruto waited for the familiar shock of fear to pass through him, but this time it didn't come. In fact, he only felt curious. He glanced at the white haired male sitting three desks down. He looked troubled, and worried. This only served to increase his burning curiosity. What would they say to him? Would they explain why they were following him? Would they tell him where they got those pendant? Where he got his? And, most importantly, would they be able to shed some light on his past?

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As soon as the bell rang, Sasuke stood, gathered his stuff, and was the first out the door. He rushed out the double doors that brought him into the courtyard, without bothering to stop at his locker. He didn't want to face Naruto, not after what had happened last night, and had been carefully avoiding him all day.

He looked back as he reached the gates and saw the blond standing by the oak tree where Gaara had unveiled his most carefully guarded secret. Was he waiting for someone? Sudden curiosity tempted him to go and investigate, but he pushed it down. He would not give into temptation again. Last night it had brought him nothing but pain and confusion.

Sasuke shook his head and turned, leaving the school. The path was mostly empty, as a majority of the students lingered in the courtyard, chatting and waiting for friends, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He was happy for the silence, and happy for a chance to try to sort out his feelings... Until he had the distinct feeling of someone watching him. Slowly, he turned around. The road was completely deserted now. Sasuke shuddered, trying to ignore the prickling sensation at the back of his neck.

He continued on his way home, only now his steps came quicker and more deliberate, fighting the urge to just flat out run. He had always hated this part of town, with its boarded up houses, many alleyways and seedy motels...

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Naruto frowned impatiently as he waited for Suigetsu and Haku to show up. The crowds had begun to thin and there were only a few stragglers left. It wasn't until the last two students exited the courtyard that he heard footsteps behind him. He turned to face the sound, and was finally faced with whom he had been waiting for.

"Naruto-san," Haku greeted, giving a slight bow.

Naruto glared. "What do you two want from me? I know you guys didn't come from China and I know you've been following me everywhere."

Suigetsu frowned. So he had noticed them that day at the supermarket. He sighed inwardly. He had told Zabuza that he would be bad at tracking. "Well, it's a long story."

Haku could see that Naruto was growing angry at their air of apparent unconcern. "Naruto-san, that pendant you wear around your neck... Do you remember where it came from?"

Naruto shook his head. "No clue. How come you two have ones just like it...?"

"It's part of a tagging system," Suigetsu responded. Then, at the blank look on Naruto's face added, "Do you remember anything at all about your life before you came here?"

Naruto shook his head, his heart pounding in his chest. Could these people really tell him about his past? Could they reveal who the snake-like man of his nightmares was? Haku sighed. "Like Suigetsu said, it's a long story. You may want to sit down."

Naruto reluctantly took the effeminate male's suggestion, and sat near the root of the tree. The two men sat too, and Haku drew in a deep breath. 

"It all started," he began, "with a man called Orochimaru. He was a promising medical student, conducting research into all of the leading natural causes of death. He was close to finding cures for illnesses like AIDS and cancer. But, somewhere along the line, he got mixed up in some bad stuff. It started innocently enough, with an interest in gene therapy. He wanted to take his research further, to find out how far he could mess with the human genetic code to modify their physical and mental properties. The hospital he conducted research at, however would not give him the grant to continue with his studies. They said it was inhumane. This made him very angry. He continued with his drug research, but the pressing curiosity was there. What if he used this hormone to manipulate this chromosome? What if he exposed this chemical to a fetus while still in the womb? He applied and reapplied for that grant, but each time he was denied, based on the assertion that altering living human beings the way he wanted to be was sick, cruel, and wrong.

"Eventually he gave up. Or so the school and hospital thought. Just days before graduating medical school, Orochimaru went missing. He essentially disappeared off the face of the earth. He left no clues, he told no one where he was going, he covered all of his tracks and somehow erased any records that he had ever been alive. He wound up robbing a bank and using the money to buy medical equipment off the black market. All of the equipment he would need to conduct his own research. He spent some of the money building a research lab. He was set. All he needed was a test subject.

"He started with the kinds of people no one would miss. Homeless prostitutes and drug addicts. Orphans on the streets. At first, all of his experiments failed. Each individual experiment wound up dead. This frustrated him. A follower of the scientific method, he came up with a tagging system that would help him learn from his mistakes. He assigned each experiment a number, kept extensive records on them, and tagged them with an identifying pendant. This helped him keep his data organized and efficient. Eventually his experiments began to succeed. He was able to modify developing fetuses so that they had extra limbs, different hair or eye colors, specific deformities. Eventually he became so good at modifying the human existence that he was able to change the entirety of their genetic make up. Some of his experiments retain their human form, but have abilities that are other worldly, such that you would be naive to continue to call them human."

Naruto stared at Haku in disbelief. This sounded more like a science fiction novel than real life. "So, me... I was his 351st experiment, then?" He wrapped his fingers around the pendant. If it were not there he wouldn't believe a word they were saying.

Suigetsu nodded. "Both of your parents died the night you were born... It was a rather... Unusual occurrence. The hospital was broken into and about thirty people were murdered, them included. He kidnapped you about that time and the hospital assumed you had died in the incident as well. The hospital kept the deaths a secret from authorities, and covered all of them up. We're not completely sure why, though."

Naruto wrapped his arms around his knees, feeling oddly detached from the situation. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to deal with this information. "So, somehow I escaped, and now this maniac Orochimaru is after me?"

Haku nodded gravely. "You are in danger, yes, but worry not. You have people everywhere looking out for you. Naturally I can't say whom, but they are there. Where you least expect it. Our only goal is to keep him away from you."

Naruto sat back, balancing his weight on his hands. So he was safe for now. That was a relieving thought. "But, you guys have to be escaped... experiments... too, right?"

They both nodded.

"So why are they after me, of all people? And why do you want to help me?"

They exchanged a look. "Well, we're not entirely sure why you are so important to him. It has to do with one of his experiments. He's planning something. Something evil. And we want to stop him. We've seen what he's capable of, and he needs to be stopped. We can do that best by keeping you safe." Haku stood as he said this. "We thought it would be best if you knew what we were trying to do. So far, you've been rather reluctant to have us following you."

Naruto laughed nervously. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was being targeted by someone from his mysterious past. And he had a feeling that this Orochimaru person was the man from his nightmares.

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The man with waist-length dark hair chuckled sadistically as he saw the tell-tale signs of fear in the young boy four stories below where he sat on the roof. "That's right, kitten. I'm watching you. Be afraid," he muttered under his breath.

The silver haired man behind him smiled as his master's excitement spread to him. This was going to be a fun chase. Though one thing did confuse him. "Why are you going after this boy? I thought you wanted to capture 351?"

"Kabuto, Kabuto, Kabuto," the amber eyed man chided gently, as if his reasons were obvious. "He may also reside in the nest of Uchiha Fugaku, but he is not nearly as heavily guarded. While 351 has Fugaku, Zabuza, Haku and the two other runaways, Deidara, Sasori, and now even secret government agent Uchiha Itachi watching his every move, little Sasuke has no one."

"What about the red head, Karin?" the man called Kabuto pointed out.

The other man shook his head. "She's too soft to be of any use to him. Additionally, her memories of her time as my pet seem to show no signs of resurfacing. She may live for the time being."

Kabuto shrugged, knowing that his master still had a soft spot for the young girl. "If we spend all of our time chasing the boy, though, when will we have the chance to round up the other runaways?"

The man stood as, below him, Sasuke began to walk again. "They aren't worth my time. If the opportunity arises, kill them. If not, then it does not matter." He walked across the roof of the building and jumped to the next one effortlessly and without fear. "Our only goal for the time being is to take Uchiha Sasuke captive."

Kabuto followed the older man, jumping from roof to roof with as much ease as his master. "And what will we do with him?"

"Simple. We use him to lure 351 straight to us."

An evil smirk spread across the younger man's face. "That's genius, Orochimaru-sama."

The snake-like man licked his lips at the sight of Sasuke practically running home, throwing paranoid glances behind him every few feet. "Of course."

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Sasuke sat at his desk, trying to finish his Literature review worksheet. This would be his last homework assignment of the year. He supposed he should be excited, but he could hardly concentrate.

Why had that feeling of being watched spooked him so much? Why, even though he'd been home for a good twenty minutes, were his hands still shaking? He shuddered at the memory of leering eyes on him, dropping his pencil. He reached into his pocket for his phone, staring at the number pad. He wondered if he should call Gaara, or Shikamaru, or even Karin. Whoever it was, he felt like he needed to do something to get his mind off of his terrified walk home. Just as he was about to dial Shikamaru's number, the phone began to ring. Karin.

He picked it up gratefully. "Hello?"

"Hey, Sasuke, it's me. Do you think you could come over to my place today? Gaara, Shikamaru, and I wanted to give you something. The boys are already here..."

Sasuke didn't even take the time to think. Naruto wasn't back from school yet, his father was working, his mother had gone out shopping, and Itachi was making the two hour drive to the airport to pick up his fiancée. He certainly was not looking forward to being home alone. "Yeah, I'll be there in five minutes." He grabbed a piece of paper and hastily scribbled down a note saying where he was going.

The two said their goodbyes, and Sasuke quickly slipped his phone into his pocket, put on his shoes, and was out the door. The air was warm and sunny, and it didn't take him long to reach Karin's apartment. He looked behind him as she opened the door for him, once again getting that prickly feeling. For a split second, he thought he saw a man standing in an alley across the street, but he blinked, and the figure was gone.

"What are you looking at?" Karin asked, noting his expression.

Sasuke shook his head walking inside. "Nothing."

For a moment, Karin stared at the spot Sasuke had been looking. She could have sworn that, just for a split second, she'd seen some one's aura, hazy, thick, and black. She shook her head, assuming her eyes were playing tricks on her. The chances that she would see such a chilling aura anywhere, much less outside her home, were slim. And so, shaking her own head, she shut the door, locking it tightly, just in case. It never hurt to be cautious.

Sasuke sat on the couch, beside Gaara. Shikamaru reclined in the small armchair, and Karin took her seat on the coffee table, facing them all. She glanced at Sasuke's aura. She could see it was deep purple with confusion, infused with dark streaks of indigo. He was still unhappy, but more pensive today. Absently, she wondered why that was.

"So," Sasuke began after about twenty minutes of aimless chatter, curiosity getting the best of him. "What is it that you wanted to give me...?"

Karin smirked. "So impatient." She reached under the coffee table for the journal and held it out to him. "It's from all of us." The three of them had spent all night filling the notebook from cover to cover. She was hoping it would be worth it.

Sasuke took it, tentatively. "What is this?"

Gaara laughed at his apprehension. "Just read it."

Sasuke flipped to the first page. In Karin's perfect handwriting were the words, "816 Reasons to Keep Living." He stared at the title for a few seconds, unsure what to say. He turned the page to find the beginning of a long list. He looked up for a moment to see all three of them staring at him expectantly.

He looked back down at the list again reading lines here and there. The book was filled with reminders about the little things in life, from the floral scent of a spring day, to the way the sun looks, setting on a cloudy day. From the taste of sea water, to the feeling you get when "certain people" smile at you. And the last three reasons in the book: Gaara, Karin, and Shikamaru.

His eyes lingered on those last three lines for a long time. He knew his eyes were filling with tears, but he didn't care. He was beyond touched by this gesture, by the fact that they would put so much effort into making him try to see that life was worth it, even if sometimes it didn't seem to be. Sasuke looked up, still not sure what to say. "You guys..."

Karin grinned at him, feeling her aura turn a bright yellow of joy as Sasuke's aura faded into a gentle fuchsia, then to a soft pink. "Do you like it?"

Sasuke closed the book, letting his mask of indifference slip. "I love it..."

Shikamaru chuckled. "Good, we worked hard on it."

Gaara nodded. "We did. And now, whenever you feel like hurting yourself, or worse... Just read that, and remember that life... is worth it."

Sasuke looked down at his arm, rubbing his hand over where he knew his nearly-healed wounds were. So that's what this was about. "You want me to stop cutting my wrist."

Karin's face fell as his aura faded back to blue. "Of course we do..." Did he not want to stop?

Sasuke was silent for a minute, in which the air was filled with tension. He looked up, his expression one of intense determination. "Okay. I'll try. For you guys." He had decided. His box cutter wouldn't be his comfort anymore. His friends would.

Karin looked relieved by his words, and reached out to pull him into a tight embrace, one that was soon joined by Gaara and Shikamaru. Sasuke found himself smiling into the group-hug, despite how awkward and corny it felt, then realized the time. It was nearly 5:00. He pulled away. "Hey, I have to get going."

Karin frowned. "Do you have to? The three of you could spend the night. Besides, it's starting to rain." Just as she had said, the sky was dark and gloomy, heavy with the threat of a thunderstorm.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm supposed to meet my brother's fiancée tonight. They should be back any minute. And besides, Naruto hates being alone when it rains..." He grabbed his keys from where he left them on the table, then stood. "Let's do it tomorrow."

The group nodded, and Sasuke, in an uncharacteristic display of affection, hugged each of them in turn. He picked up the notebook, and with one last wave goodbye, was out the door.

He set off at a steady pace, flipping through the book as walked, feeling happier then he had in a very long time. He was practically on cloud nine.

This time, he didn't even notice the prickly feeling of being watched, or hear the three people who lurked in the upcoming alleyway.

He didn't notice he was in danger until strong arms pulled him roughly off to the side, a large hand clamping over his mouth, muffling his shout of alarm.

And by then, it was too late. 


	7. Kyuubi

**So, things are finally picking up. :o Please keep reviewing. I'm getting hardly any reviews per chapter now, and it's making me think people aren't interested anymore... Of course, that very well may be true. :o To those who review consistently, you're the best! :3**  
><strong>This chapter was hard to write... :o I hope it doesn't sound too awkward. But this is the chapter where you find out why Orochimaru is so anxious to get Naruto back.<strong>

**Chapter Title: Kyuubi**  
><strong>Chapter Pairings: ItaKure<strong>  
><strong>Chapter warnings: Kidnapping, violence<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Summary: Itachi discovers Sasuke's disappearance. Is Orochimaru behind this? And why is he so intent on reclaiming this particular experiment anyway?<strong>

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Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as the man behind him tightened his grip over his mouth. He moved his own hands to claw at the man's hand, but it was a fruitless effort. The other man in the shadows pulled back both of his arms, holding them tightly so that he was unable to move.

He struggled, kicking out at his captors and trying to bite the man's hand, but the men were much stronger than him.

He glared as a woman with long fuchsia hair hanging in her face crossed his vision, chuckling at his attempts to break free. She made a motion to the men, and they slammed him against the wall. In an instant, Sasuke felt cold metal against his throat. He froze.

"Make one wrong move, and we cut you up," the woman said, sounding vicious, but amused. She stepped towards him and frisked him, removing his wallet, keys, and cell phone. "Well, you won't be needing this," she laughed, tossing the cell phone into the trashcan. She rummaged through his wallet, pulled out all of the cash he had on him and pocketed it, then tossed out the wallet as well. She glanced at the keys, then glared cruelly up at him. "These might come in handy." She twirled the key ring around her fingers, as if taunting him, then pocketed them, too.

'What the hell is going on?' Sasuke thought, still too afraid to move. If they were just mugging him, then why did they toss his phone? They could have pawned it. And what did they mean, his keys would come in handy?

Suddenly, a sickening thought hit him. They knew where he lived. They knew who he lived with. Those keys would give them full access to the house. And full access to Naruto. These people had something to do with Naruto's past, he could feel it.

The woman pulled a rag and a small vial from her back pocket. She doused the rag with the liquid in the vial, then tossed it to the man who covered his mouth. He loosened his grip, but only for a split second, enough to slip the rag over his face.

The scent was strong, so strong it made him physically recoil, earning him a shallow warning slit across his throat, from which a thin trail of warm blood trickled. 'Chloroform.'

He held his breath for as long as he could, struggling to turn away from the chemical, but it was no use. The fumes were clouding his senses, making his thoughts go fuzzy and his vision grow dark. He felt himself go limp in his captors grip, felt them drop him to the floor. He saw the ground fly up to meet his face, though he didn't feel the impact. The last thing he saw before he went under was the notebook, lying sprawled on the sidewalk, growing wet and muddy in the now pouring rain.

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Naruto laid in bed, thinking. He was really freaked out over the information Suigetsu and Haku had given him. Orochimaru. The name was familiar, like the distant memory of a bad taste, but he couldn't quite pinpoint why. So, he'd been an experiment for this guy. And there was something special about him, something that the man planned to use him for.

Naruto was waiting for Sasuke to return- he'd always been the smarter of the two, and Naruto was confident that he'd be able to figure out what they should do about the situation. His impatient personality wanted to go out, find this Orochimaru guy, beat him to a pulp for the sick things he did to human beings, then have the cops lock him away, hopefully forever, and then Naruto could go back to living his life as he had before he'd found out about all of this.

Naruto sighed, rolling over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, thoughts turning to his parents. So they'd died in some freak shoot-out at hospital? Funny, whenever he'd imagined what the blank spots of his memory held, he'd never imagined that he may have never even met them.

He swallowed hard. That would mean that he'd never get to meet them, since they were, after all, dead. He'd fantasized more than once that they were out there, somewhere, looking for him. He shook his head as he felt the tears coming. The Uchihas, for the most part, had been good to him. Especially Mikoto, and he knew that he shouldn't spend his time wondering about the family he'd never had- and never would have- when he had a perfectly good one already.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a knocking on his door. "Come in," he muttered, wondering as who it was if not Sasuke (who never knocked before entering the room).

The door opened to reveal Itachi, and Naruto fought to ignore the butterflies in his stomach. "Oh, Itachi-san, you're back. Sorry, I didn't hear you get in."

Itachi nodded, giving a small smile. "I'd like you to come meet my fiancée."

Naruto felt his face redden, unsure if he was ready for this. Of course, it would look odd if he refused... "Um, okay, just give me a minute."

Itachi bowed his head slightly, and backed out of the room, shutting the door. 'Dammit, where's that teme when you need him,' Naruto thought nervously as he fixed his hair and straightened his clothes. 'I hope he's not still all weird about last night...'

Naruto took one last look at the note Sasuke had left. It read, "Went to Karin's, be back by six." He glanced at the clock. Six-thirty... With a sigh, he exited the room, as prepared as he'd ever be to meet the one who'd won over the man of his dreams and carried his child.

As soon as he walked into the room, she smiled at him, getting up to shake his hand. "You must be Naruto-san. I've heard so much about you. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai." He couldn't help it; her elegant smile was beautiful enough to squeeze a smile out of him, despite his fairly rotten mood.

"It's nice to meet you, Yuuhi-san."

Kurenai, shook her head laughing softly. "Please, call me nee-chan. After all, I look forward to becoming part of your family very soon."

Naruto smiled wider. So far, she seemed perfect for Itachi; she was friendly, she had class, and she was drop dead gorgeous. She had wavy, dark brown hair that fell just to the small of her back, and eyes that were an entrancing blood red to match the shade of her lipstick. He couldn't tell whether or not they were contacts, but regardless, they suited het.

She had long, toned legs, ending with a pair of mid-calf heeled rain boots, accentuated by a mid-thigh black skirt. She wore a gauzy white top that, in its slightly damp state perfectly showed off her ample chest. The only thing to give away the fact that she was nearly thirty was what looked like the beginning of laugh lines around her mouth, but these only served to make her look more impressive.

For a moment, he felt a bit like Kiba had when he'd first seen Haku. He wasn't into girls, but he felt he could stare at this woman for days without ever feeling the need to take his eyes away. His gaze trailed to her stomach. Of course she wasn't showing yet- she'd be just barely hitting the two month marker at the end of this week- but he couldn't help imagining what she'd look like by the time she was a good eight months in. He reckoned she'd still be ridiculously beautiful, maybe even more so.

She smiled at him, noticing where he was looking, and placed an elegant, well manicured hand over her abdomen protectively. "Itachi told you, hm?"

Naruto blushed a bit, returning his gaze to her face and scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, he did. Congratulations, by the way."

Kurenai laughed softly, taking her fiancé's hand. "You really should stop talking about it. You'll jinx it."

Itachi shared her laugh and shrugged apologetically. "Hey, they're my brothers; they deserve to be the first to know."

Naruto felt his heart do a funny little flutter. Itachi had called him his brother. Not like a brother, just his brother. It was odd. He'd expected to feel disappointed about the comment, but instead, he found himself feeling honored. He took another look at the couple, sitting side by side, holding hands. They looked perfect together.

Naruto supposed that he approved.

"Speaking of brothers," Kurenai ventured, "I've yet to meet Sasuke. Where is he?"

Naruto checked the clock. 6:48. "He went to visit a friend, but he said he'd be back almost an hour ago..."

Itachi and Kurenai exchanged a worried glance. Itachi turned to him, suddenly looking serious. "Which friend? When did he leave?"

Naruto looked startled at the sudden questions. "Um, Karin something-or-other. And I'm not sure. He left before I got back."

Itachi frowned, pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and, walking off to the kitchen, dialed his brother's number. One ring, two rings, three rings, four... And voice mail.

He pulled the phone away from his ear as the woman's monotonous voice instructed him to leave his name and number, staring uneasily at it.

"No response?" Kurenai asked quietly, leaning on the door frame.

Itachi shook his head, reluctantly hanging up the phone. He had a very bad feeling about this...

Kurenai put a hand on his shoulder. "It's probably not what you're thinking. He could have just decided to spend the night at this friend's house and forgot to let some one know."

Itachi sighed, intertwining his fingers with hers. "I know, you're right. Maybe I should look up the girl's number, see if he's still there..." He walked to where the house phone was kept in the hallway with Kurenai following one step behind him and reached under the end table for the phonebook.

He flipped to the residential section. "Karin, was it? If I remember correctly, I believe her surname is Yoikasu..."

He flipped through the pages, searching for the name and frowned when he could not find it. Of course, she was a minor, so it made sense that her number would not be listed. "No number..."

Kurenai's expression matched her fiancé's. "Naruto-kun," she called, walking back towards the living room. "Do you know this girls number, or where she lives?"

Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion. Why were they suddenly freaking out? "Um, I kind of know where she lives... I don't know the address or anything, but I know which apartment is hers. It's not too far from here, and Sasuke sometimes stops there on the way from school..."

Kurenai nodded encouragingly. "Okay, could you write down some directions for us?"

"Sure..." Naruto hesitantly reached for a scrap of paper and a pencil off the end table, the wrote down the instructions for the five minute walk and included a description of her apartment, then handed it to the anxious looking woman.

She gave him a smile, thanking him, then returned to the hallway where Itachi still stood, looking troubled. "If he doesn't show up by tomorrow afternoon, you can go over there and see what's going on."

"By then it could be too late." Itachi took the paper from her and glanced over the directions, then pulled on his shoes and was out the door. "I'm going to check now, just in case. You stay here and call me if he turns up," he added as she made a move to follow him.

She nodded, then sighed as the door slammed shut. She was really hoping that Itachi was over reacting, and that Sasuke's sudden disappearance had nothing to do with what they both suspected it did...

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Itachi took the walk back home very slowly. His visit had served only to confirm his fears. Sasuke had told his friends he was going straight home about an hour and a half ago. He wasn't at home. He wasn't answering his phone. Itachi brainstormed all of the possible places Sasuke could be, but his mind could only come up with one explanation: Orochimaru.

He turned his face skyward to glare at the falling raindrops that were soaking his skin and washing away any evidence of a possible crime, all the while cursing himself for not keeping a closer eye on his younger brother.

He knew the attempt was probably in vain, but still he ducked into an alleyway where he would be sheltered from the rain, and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing Sasuke's number. As it connected, he took a look around the alley, only just now noticing a soaked and muddy notebook near the trashcans; he walked over to it curiously and bent to pick it up.

As his call went through, he read the inscription on the inside of the front cover. Most of the ink was smeared from the rain, but he was just able to make out a name- Uchiha Sasuke.

Itachi dropped the book, a crushing wave of dread passing through him as a ringing sound could be heard from a trashcan in the alley. His suspicions were correct. Sasuke was gone.

It took him a long moment to compose himself. Once he was sure that he wasn't going to scream with frustration or throw up from the sick feeling the worry left in the pit of his stomach, he slowly picked up the book and fished the cell phone out of the trashcan and walked home.

As he approached their driveway, he noticed his father's cruiser parked next to his airport rental and felt a sudden surge of anger.

He knew that Orochimaru would target Sasuke as a means of getting to Naruto. He knew it, and he told his father that they would needed to ensure Sasuke's safety as well as the blond's.

But of course, Fugaku hadn't listened. He'd insisted that having people watch both of them would be a waste of resources.

Taking a deep breath in another attempt to calm himself, he stared through the window where he could see into the living room. His father sat on the sofa, putting on his "we have company" face and chatting idly with his fiancée. His mother sat beside him, hair looking damp after having walked home in the rain.

Itachi fought the urge to a smash the cruiser's windshield, took yet another deep breath, then unlocked the door and walked inside.

As he entered the living room, Fugaku turned to him, offering a small smile. He was still in his uniform, having gotten home only moments earlier. "Ah, you're back. Yuuhi-san is a very intriguing woman. You've chosen well."

Itachi nodded stiffly. "I know," he replied in a flat monotone. "Father, may I speak with you in private for a moment?"

Kurenai gazed at him worriedly. For Itachi to look like that, he must have found out something that didn't bode well.

Fugaku looked at his oldest son in confusion for a moment, then nodded, following the younger man out the side door, to the covered porch.

As soon as they were out of earshot of the rest of the family, Fugaku rounded on Itachi. "This is about the Orochimaru case, isn't it?" He could feel that there was bad news coming.

Itachi held out the notebook and cell phone. "These are Sasuke's. I found them in an alleyway, and he's no where to be found."

Fugaku felt his stomach drop at the evidence. "You think he's been kidnapped."

Itachi nodded once. "It's possible that he ran away or something, but I don't think it's very likely. I spoke to his friend, who said that he looked very happy before he left her house, so it's doubtful that he's trying to kill himself or that he decided to just leave. Also, Zabuza and his squad have informed us that Orochimaru has been becoming more active. My conclusion is that a kidnapping is the more likely option."

"But, why Sasuke? Why didn't they just go for Naruto?"

Itachi suppressed a sigh of frustration. "Isn't it obvious? Naruto is constantly guarded. He has two of Orochimaru's escaped experiments and at least one government agent on him at all times. Sasuke is alone more often then not, and he's the son of Uchiha Fugaku, the man who's been trying to put him behind bars for years. He's going to use Sasuke to get what he wants from us." Itachi paused, letting the gravity of the situation sink in.

Fugaku scowled. "So it's probably going to wind up being Sasuke's life, or the destruction of Konoha."

Itachi nodded. "If we hand over Naruto, then Orochimaru will have the Kyuubi in the palm of his hand. If we don't, then it's very likely that Sasuke will die."

Fugaku walked over to the railing of the porch and put his hands on it, looking out into the forest. "There has to be a way we can keep them both," he muttered. He knew he was hard on Sasuke, but that didn't mean he was not sickened and distraught by the situation. "So what do we do? You always manage to think of something." Sometimes he resented the fact that Itachi was so much smarter than him; other times, like this one, his son's intellect made him grateful and proud.

Itachi shook his head sadly, the revelation crushing him like a dead weight. "For once? I have no idea."

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Zabuza clenched his fist, completely crushing the apple he held in his hand, and glared out at the dark-haired man before him. Haku gently placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to warn the older man to remain calm, but Zabuza shrugged it off. "What do you mean, kidnapped?" he growled sharply. Just when they were finally able to get some control over the situation...

"I mean just what I said. Orochimaru has taken my brother prisoner." Itachi sat with his legs underneath him on the floor in front of a low coffee table across from Zabuza, glaring at the ransom note the police had received earlier in the day, as if willing it not to exist. It had officially been two days since Sasuke had been found missing, and Itachi had found himself praying harder then he had for anything in his life that his younger brother would turn up safely in that time. All of his hopes had been shot with the arrival of the note, however.

Zabuza's jaw tightened. "And how did this happen? I thought we agreed that my men would watch Uzumaki, and your father's would watch the Uchiha kid with a couple of your government agents thrown in."

Itachi resisted the temptation to yell. "I certainly agreed. My father, however, did not. He did not deem Sasuke's protection necessary."

Zabuza's gaze softened, but only by a small fraction. He was still angry, but it helped to know that the man in front of him was not the cause of his troubles. "That's ridiculous. He should have instantly assumed that Orochimaru would aim for the less guarded of the two-"

"I know. Believe me, I know. But what's done is done. The question now is, what do we do?"

Zabuza sighed and stared down at the paper, looking over it for what seemed like the thousandth time. It read:

"F-

"Well, it's been quite a long chase, hasn't it? I must say I've rather enjoyed it. But enough of these games of cat and mouse. I have recovered fully from our last encounter. The tables have turned, and now the hunter has become the hunted. It is time for the cat to strike.

"My terms are simple. Hand over 358 and your son will be returned to you alive and relatively unharmed. If you don't... Well, I can guarantee you that your son will not die a quick or painless death.

"You have thirty days to make your decision. The place and time of the exchange will be disclosed to you at a later date. I hope that you will see it my way. Don't make this harder than it has to be.

-O"

Itachi watched the man read the note with anxiety. "What do you suggest we do?"

Zabuza stared at him, hard. "You're not going to like my suggestion."

"I figured."

"In that case, I suggest we take Uzumaki into hiding and let him do what he likes with Sasuke."

Itachi said nothing. He knew that was coming.

"My sources reveal that Orochimaru is very close to completing his research into the Kyuubi. If he got his hands on Naruto now, there's no telling what he might do with  
>his knowledge and his old test subject."<p>

Itachi sighed. "I know. But I... Sasuke's my brother. I just can't..."

Zabuza grunted. "I knew you'd be too biased for this job. Put your emotions to the side, Itachi. Think of how many lives we might save by sacrificing just one."

Itachi shook his head. "There must be some other way. Some way that we can just take Orochimaru down once and for all so that both of them are safe? His "experiments" don't seem to like him much, if the four of you are anything to go by, so he can't have that much support behind him, right?"

Suigetsu gave a snort of laughter, despite having followed his orders to keep quiet during the meeting until now. "You'd be surprised."

Juugo, who sat beside him, equally silent, nodded. Itachi glanced at them, nodding for them to go on. "Orochimaru... Is very manipulative. In the beginning, his subjects were just random people, like Zabuza-san, but after he got the money to do his medical research, he began to be more specific. He targets vulnerable people. He promises them things and entices them into coming with him, and convinces them to participate in his experiments and remain loyal to him."

Itachi frowned. "I see..." Changing the subject, he turned to Zabuza. "You said Orochimaru's research is nearing completion? In that case, what information do we now have on the Kyuubi?"

"Well, we know that it's a genetic mutation, however it is a mutation that behaves like a parasite. We know that the Uzumaki kid has this mutation. And we k now that the host of this mutation, when exposed to certain stimuli, will undergo specific changes in physical appearance and personality. We also know that Orochimaru has formulated a way to isolate the gene that this genetic mutation is carried on. In other words, after some more analysis of Uzumaki's DNA, he may be able to reproduce this mutation in his other test subjects. Orochimaru has plans to create an army of people with this mutation." Zabuza absently picked at his thumb nail, wondering what they would do. He wasn't completely heartless, and he could imagine what Itachi was going through, being forced to choose between allowing a dangerous criminal to posses a highly dangerous weapon and sacrificing his beloved younger brother to a slow and painful death.

Itachi hesitated before speaking again. "What if we had our men ambush Orochimaru at the place where we are supposed to trade them off...?"

Zabuza looked at him doubtfully. "Now you just sound desperate. Surely he'd expect us to do that and prepare for that to happen?" He shrugged, slightly shifting Haku's hand, which still rested on his shoulder. "It would never work, and who'd spare the man power to do it?"

Itachi stood, knowing perfectly well that he did indeed sound desperate, although he'd never felt more determined. "It has to work. And I'll find the men to do it, even if I have to get on my knees and beg."

"If you can get the men, we'll try it. Just know that any lost lives will be on your shoulders."

Itachi nodded briskly. "I'm prepared to face the consequences. Orochimaru is mistaken. He is not, has not, and never will be the cat in our little chase..." 


	8. The Truth

**I ask for more reviews, you give me less... Well played, Fanfiction, well played. :P I think I might actually finish this one, though. We're probably looking about four more chapters and an epilogue. Also, just wanted to let you know that none of the main characters are going to die in this story. They'll get their happy ending eventually. c:**

**Chapter Title: The Truth**  
><strong>Chapter Pairings: Slight NaruSasu<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Warnings: Violence<strong>  
><strong>Chapter Summary: A sleep deprived nightmare leads Naruto to uncover the full truth of his past that leads him to do something about Sasuke's kidnapping. Meanwhile, an unexpected turn of events helps Sasuke to cope with his dire situation. <strong>

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Naruto stared at the pages of his Geometry final, completely unable to concentrate. It had been 15 minutes since the beginning of the exam, and still he was stuck reading and rereading the question, not comprehending a word. He supposed that he was going to wind up repeating geometry again, but today, this notion didn't bother him as much as it had the past few weeks. He was too busy thinking about Sasuke.

The Uchiha household had been unusually somber during the two that Sasuke had been missing. Since they'd found the ransom note, all Mikoto had done was cry. Itachi and Kurenai were visibly upset, and he supposed Fugaku was as well, though he hid it better.

Naruto had been surprised to find out that Itachi was a part of the "Orochimaru Case," as he and Fugaku referred to it, but he was glad to know that Itachi was figuring out a way that both of them would be safe. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if Sasuke had to die to keep Orochimaru away from him.

He glared at the math problems, angry at himself. 'If I had never escaped from him all those years ago, this wouldn't be happening. Sasuke would be safe... I hope he's okay right now...' he thought, trying hard not to imagine the sorts of things Orochimaru might be doing to him...

Naruto glanced over at Suigetsu and Haku. They looked relatively un-worried, but that was understandable. After all, they had no reason to be concerned for Sasuke's life. Their job was not to look after Sasuke.

Naruto filled in random answers for the test questions, then turned in his exam, returning to his desk to put his head down. He hadn't slept well at all the past few days and it was beginning to take its toll on him.

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There was a face, dark and shady. At first, he wasn't sure he recognized it but the, with a jolt, it came to him. Orochimaru. He anxiously watched the man as it went about its business, hardly taking notice of him. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, threatening to leap out his throat at the slightest sudden movement of the figure. The anticipation was murder.

It was a moment before he realized the he could move. He was not bound and he was not paralyzed. He shakily got his feet, pushing himself out of the chair attempting to act on his urge to run.

-Now, where do you think you're going?

The man's sickly sweet voice resonated in the small, dark room, dripping with malice and venom. He felt his heart stop and he instantly froze on the spot.

-Why don't you sit back down and be a good boy?

He complied. He didn't want to think about it, but he knew what happened when you were bad. Orochimaru praised him for his behavior, then slowly shackled him to the chair.

-You've been so good for me, I think you deserve a reward.

His eyes widened, and he said nothing as the man flicked off the single, dim light and pulled down a projection screen. He felt an eerie calm fill him, replacing the fear and the panic.

Yes, this was why he obeyed Orochimaru. He was the only one who could give him these little glimpses of what his life might be like if he was not "special."

The projector whirred to life, and the screen lit up. There were pictures, one of a woman with long, beautiful red hair and a stunning smile, the other of a man with short messy blond hair and the most brilliant blue eyes.

He stared, transfixed, at the screen and images and video clips of his parents flicked across the screen. He had never met them before, but still he loved them more than anything, and these little "rewards" made it easy to pretend.

-I'm going to show you a new clip, one you've never seen before, okay?

The man's voice broke his daze. Something about it sounded off. He twisted as much as he could in his restraints to look at the man. He held a notebook, pen at the ready, and his face too closely resembled the one he wore when observing a particularly interesting experiment.

He swallowed hard, trying to ignore this, and turned back to the screen. The screen went dark for a moment, and then the picture changed.

The scene showed his mother lying in a hospital bed looking exhausted but content. In her arms lay a tiny, newborn infant. His father sat at her bedside, grinning with pride and joy.

He gazed in wonder at the picture. The little child... That was him?

-He's wonderful. What's his name?

The voice, though it came from the projector sounded chillingly familiar. He felt his heart beat falter as none other than Orochimaru himself walked onto the screen.

His mother smiled warmly at the man.

-Soichiro-san, you came! His name is Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto.

Disturbingly, he realized that in this video, Orochimaru wore a different face than he normally did. He shuddered. Did the man experiment on himself, too?

-Soichiro-san, would you like to hold him? After all, it is thanks to you and your medicine that I've lived to see this day... You don't know how grateful we are.

Tears glimmered in his mother's eyes, but they were happy ones. In the video, Orochimaru reached out and took the sleeping infant from her, and stared down at his face at the three whisker like scars already present, stretching out a long, pale finger to trace the lines.

-Yes... He's perfect...

His mother frowned at the twisted look on her apparent savior's face. Orochimaru wore a wolfish grin. His eyes here were brown, but he could imagine the demon's natural, honey colored eyes glinting in the harsh light of the room as he leered at the new born.

-What do you mean...? What are you talking about?

Orochimaru looked up at her, grinning cruelly.

-I think it's time you repaid me for my service to you.

Both of them looked alarmed, and his father stood.

-What the hell are you talking about? Give me back my son.

Orochimaru chuckled, holding the infant tighter.

-I'm afraid I can't do that, Minato.

His mother took in a sharp, shocked breath and turned around to hit the call button behind her bed.

-Kushina, you know that will get you nowhere.

As if to prove his point, he stood there waiting as four nurses rushed into the room, having heard Minato's shout and then the call alarm. Minato stood there angrily, unable to do anything to the man without potentially harming his hours old son.

-He's trying to steal my baby!

Kushina screamed in panic as Orochimaru made his way towards the window, prepared to make his escape. Minato barred his path and the nurses blocked the door. Orochimaru simply smirked at the angry and terrified father.

And then, so quickly he had no time to react, Orochimaru pulled out a gun he'd been concealing beneath his jacket and fired a shot into Minato's skull. He went down immediately, blood beginning to pool about his head, staining his light blond hair and forming a crimson halo.

The hospital room was silent for a moment in which time seemed to freeze. Kushina stared at her dead lover lying on the floor, eyes and mouth open wide in horror.

And then there was chaos. The sounds of screams and gunshots filled the room, the nurses fell one by one, and the screen seemed to go red with the amount of blood that was being spilled. His mother was the last to be killed, as she pulled her exhausted body out of the hospital bed, desperate to escape the carnage.

There was a final shot of Orochimaru leaving through the window and the screen went dark.

The lights flicked back on, but he took no notice. He stared blankly at the screen frozen as the hospital room had been after the first gunshot. So that was how they died

He felt a rage so strong it was almost tangible building up within him. His head throbbed and his eyes burned with the horror he had just seen.

Orochimaru walked in front of him, a smug grin on his face.

-How was that?

The rage turned into a pain, bursting in his skull like the bullet that killed his father. The pain and the rage grew until it felt like his flesh was tearing away, exposing the tender and vulnerable muscle and tissue beneath.

And then his world went black.

When he came to, he was lying in the middle of the room, no longer restrained by the chair. Gingerly, he stood and looked around the room. The shackles were shattered, the chair on its side, though it had previously been bolted to the floor. Test tubes and beakers of viscous fluids lay broken on the counters and the floor. shreds of paper that he guessed used to be Orochimaru's notes fluttered about the room, landing everywhere. Orochimaru himself lay in a heap on the floor in a puddle of blood, badly injured but not dead. Beside him was his silver haired assistant, who must have entered the room when he heard the destruction, unmoving, blood slowly trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He looked down at his hands, shocked and afraid. Had he done this?

He heard a groan from the corner of the room as Orochimaru began to stir and the fear became so intense he nearly threw up. He was afraid, but he knew he needed to get away, and get away fast. He ran from the room, his short, weak legs carrying him faster than ever before. As he reached the exit of this underground maze of rooms, he felt his memories of being trapped there slipping away. He ran for miles, not stopping after his first glimpse of the outside world, and not stopping when it began to rain, each drop beating down on him as if they were bricks.

He didn't stop running until he was so tired, so wet, and so heavy that he simply collapsed.

He didn't remember who he was. He didn't know where he was. He didn't even remember how he'd gotten there at this point. All he knew was that the only thing he wanted was for this downpour to stop...

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When Naruto awoke, the first thing he noticed was that he was lying on the floor. The second thing he noticed was that he was still in class, though the room was now empty.

"You up, yeah?"

Naruto sat up, feeling light headed and dizzy. "Deidara-sensei?" He looked over to the blond haired, blue-eyed ceramics teacher, who sat beside him. "Yeah, I'm up..." He rubbed his eyes groggily. His dream had been so disturbing... "What happened?"

Deidara shook his head. "You fell asleep during your exam... Your proctor called me when you started having a nightmare, yeah. Was it about Orochimaru?" he added, voice dropping to a whisper.

Naruto stared at him, startled. Haku wasn't kidding when he said people were looking out for him everywhere. He supposed that was why Itachi had been going to his and Sasori's place so often the past few days. Slowly, he nodded. 'I can't believe I had a nightmare in the middle of class...! How embarrassing.'

"Hey, don't look so sad, yeah? I know you're worried about him, but... Sasuke's gonna be okay. Even if me an' Itachi an' Sasori have to fight all of Orochimaru's lackey's on our own, yeah!" Deidara grinned. "So don't worry!"

Naruto forced a small smile in return. "I guess I just have to leave it to you guys?"

"That's right!"

Shakily, Naruto stood up, glancing at the clock. School had already been out for twenty minutes. He shook his head slowly, and followed Deidara out of the classroom, thoughts drifting to his missing friend, despite his sensei's reassurance. He thought about what Haku had said and showed him. He said that some of Orochimaru's experiments you would be naïve to call human. They'd shown him how Haku could freeze water particles in the air around him and how Suigetsu could liquefy any part of his body. If Naruto had not seen it, he wouldn't believe it.

His thoughts turned to his dream- he supposed it was a memory- and found himself looking down at his hands as his younger self had. 'Am I human? What sort of destruction am I capable of that Orochimaru would plan to use me as a weapon against Konoha?'

His outstretched palms clenched into tight fists. 'I'm not going to let him use me. And I'm not going to let Sasuke get hurt because of me either,' he resolved. When the time for the trade came, he would do whatever it took to ensure both the city and his friend's safety.

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The first thing Sasuke became aware of as he regained consciousness was an aching, cramped feeling all over his body, and a splitting headache. The lights in the tiny, windowless room were dull, but as he opened his eyes it seemed as blinding as the harsh LED glow of a hospital corridor. He cursed, though the sound of his obscenity turned into a dry choke- he was gagged.

Sasuke jerked awake at this realization, finally remembering the circumstances that led to him lying bound and gagged on the cold stone floor of a tiny windowless room in a place he fondly dubbed "gods-know-where."

With a groan, he attempted to stretch some of the stiffness away from his limbs, then struggled into a sitting position. He did so as quietly as possible, not wanting to rouse the attention of the cruel dark pink-haired woman, whom he gathered was called Tayuya. He looked down at his bare chest where there was a large, dark bruise along the left side of his rib cage, where Tayuya he kicked him for no apparent reason. Well, perhaps biting her hard enough that she bled was sort of a reason, but still...

He looked at the ropes that bound his feet, then, painfully, twisted to check the ones binding his hands. If anything, they seemed tighter than they had last time he was conscious. He pulled his wrists apart in a vain attempt to loosen the ropes and was met only with a searing pain. The harsh tweed of the ropes had not reacted well with his cuts and had rubbed his left wrist raw. A second glance showed that the rope was even blood stained.

Sasuke leaned his head against the wall, feeling sick with all of the sudden pain. 'If I make it out of here alive,' he thought, 'I'll never cut myself again, and I'll learn to appreciate everything I have and I'll give up trying to get what I don't, and I'll stop being jealous of my brother...'

If he were anywhere else, he might have scoffed at how pathetic he was being, but right here, right now, he didn't have the energy to care.

He froze in his prayers as he heard footsteps down the hallway. These footsteps were slow, fluid. Not at all like Tayuya's harsh, quick, stomping. The voices were quiet and hushed. If not his captor, who were these people?

The footsteps stopped outside his room, and Sasuke moved to pretend he was sleeping. The stiffness made him slow, however, and by the time he was nearly lying down one of the voices was saying, "Ah, he's awake."

The duo steeped into the room and Sasuke suppressed a shudder. The man on the left was definitely Orochimaru. He looked just as Naruto had described him from his nightmares. Beside him was a pale, thin man with waist-length white hair. Sasuke put on his best glare, but it had little effect. Orochimaru even had the gall to chuckle at him.

"Hello, Sasuke." Orochimaru's voice sounded disgustingly sweet, coming out in what he supposed was meant to be a purr, but was more like a hiss. Sasuke hated sweet things. "Kimimaro, if you will."

The white haired man gave a curt nod then undid Sasuke's gag. He choked and spluttered, having not realized how dry his mouth truly was. Kimimaro produced a glass of water and brought it to Sasuke's mouth to drink. Sasuke had half a mind to refuse, but he had had no water for at least twelve hours, and this thought was quickly beaten down by his survival instinct; he drank deeply, and greedily, frowning as the glass emptied.

"Better?" came that sweet, sickly voice as Sasuke finished, and he nearly cringed. He did not answer. Orochimaru was silent for a moment, and Sasuke refused to look at him. "I said, is that better?" His voice was lower and had a dark, cruel tone to it. When Sasuke still did not answer, the snake-like man hissed in frustration. "Tayuya was right. You aren't very cooperative. Kimimaro."

The white haired man nodded and reached behind him, pulling out a long, white, barbed whip from beneath his cloak. Sasuke swallowed hard at the sight of it; if he hadn't known any better, he'd say it was a... a spine?

Kimimaro flicked his wrist, cracking the whip across Sasuke's shoulder and chest in an explosion of pain that made him cry out. It left a long, red welt that bled from the barbs. The whip was hard like bone, though flexible, and bruised where it struck, making his eyes water.

Orochimaru smirked at Sasuke's expression. "Now, I believe I asked you a question. Is that better?"

"Yes," Sasuke responded through gritted teeth glaring at the floor for all he was worth. He bit back a groan of pain as he bent in the middle. And he had thought Tayuya was bad...

"What's the matter? Don't like the whip? Just as well. Refuse to cooperate and that will be your punishment. You will answer me when spoken to, understand?" Orochimaru crossed his arms, amber eyes narrowing to slits.

"Yes." Sasuke's voice was little more than a growl, and it took all of his self restraint not to spit at the man's feet.

The man's voice returned to its previous purr. "Excellent..." He stared intently at the dark haired male lying heaped on the floor. "Oh, Kimimaro, he's terribly attractive, isn't he?"

"Indeed."

Orochimaru circled him, looking him over as one might examine livestock. "I almost wish that they would refuse my terms... Just imagine all of the things I could do with a body like that... I've been wanting a new face for quite some time."

Sasuke swallowed the bile that rose in his throat, ignoring the more obvious question, and asked, "What do you mean terms?"

Orochimaru frowned at him and nodded to Kimimaro, who cracked the whip again, crossing this welt over the last one and hitting the bruise Tayuya had given him. He was unable to hold back a scream of pain. He slumped forward, beginning to feel faint, whimpering slightly as new waves of pain washed over him. He began to suspect that Tayuya had cracked a few of his ribs, as the splitting ache in his side grew almost unbearable.

"I said, you will speak when spoken to. I did not ask you a question. Do you understand now, or must I punish you further?"

"I understand," Sasuke gasped desperately. He'd do what the man said, as long as it meant he would be free from the whip.

"Good." Again the man's tone did a 180, the smooth honey-like croon returning. "Now, since you are so curious, you might like to know that I am holding you here as a hostage to get your family to turn over your little friend, the Uzumaki boy. You'd better pray that they hand him over in a timely matter, Sasuke. I don't have a quick death planned for you." He chuckled, and Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut hating the man before him with every ounce of his being.

Orochimaru took one long look at him, then turned to leave the room. "Kimimaro, I leave him to you and Tayuya. Do with him what you like. Just don't kill him. We need him alive. For now, anyway."

Kimimaro remained expressionless and nodded. "Understood."

Orochimaru shut the door behind him, leaving the two alone in the room. Sasuke eyed the bone whip uneasily, and visibly relaxed as the pale man concealed it within his clothing once again, an action that was followed by a long silence.

"Do not worry about your friend," he said softly.  
>Sasuke looked up, eyes widening in shock at the comment. "What are you talking about?"<p>

Kimimaro lowered his eyes. "I cannot guarantee your safety, but I know that Juugo will ensure that Naruto does not fall into the hands of Orochimaru."

"Juugo...?"

"My friend. He escaped here several months ago and has been actively protecting the Kyuubi host ever since."

Sasuke began to feel hopeful that things would turn out okay in the end. "So, that means you're on our side?"

He sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, and so are many others here. But again, as long as you are Orochimaru's prisoner this fact will offer you no protection."

Sasuke glared at him. "Okay, fine. Whatever, but you'll make sure that asshole doesn't get his hand on Naruto?"

Kimimaro raised his eyes to meet Sasuke's. "Does it not bother you that your stay here will almost certainly end with you being tortured to death as a sacrifice for your friend?"

Sasuke hesitated. Did it bother him? He wasn't entirely sure. It was as if the idea hadn't quite sunken in yet. He had wanted to die for a long time now, and he supposed he had, somewhere along the line, lost his will to live... He thought for a moment, contemplating his answer before speaking again. "No... I don't think it bothers me... But I hate not having control over this situation. I hate not knowing what's happening back home, and I hate not knowing if Naruto's okay. That's what's killing me." Inwardly, he scoffed at the figure of speech. He supposed what was really killing him was the all of this pain, but he said nothing about that.

Kimimaro sighed. "You have a strong will. As long as you don't expect to be saved..." He shifted awkwardly, and Sasuke resumed his staring contest with the floor. "I'm sorry your hands are tied so tightly. You broke your wrist when you fell, last time they sedated you. I didn't want it to move too much."

Sasuke kept the look of surprise off of his face. He twisted back, and, sure enough, a dark, blackened bruise had bloomed over his left wrist. Well, that explains why it had hurt so badly to pull his bound arms apart... He shrugged, beginning to get used to the dull pain of his injured bones.

Kimimaro shifted feet again. "Well, I had best take my leave..."

Sasuke nodded as the pale man somewhat reluctantly turned to leave. As the door opened, something occurred to him. "Kimimaro...? Uh, what did Orochimaru mean when he said he wanted a new face...?"

The white-haired man shook his head slowly, giving Sasuke an almost pitying look. "Trust me kid; you don't want to know."

Sasuke swallowed hard as the room grew dark with the closing of the door, and he was alone once again.

Something told him that, without whatever they'd been drugging him with, he wasn't going to be sleeping tonight.

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Naruto took a second, long, look out the window. So far, it seemed as if his intuition was correct. All of those who normally kept an eye on him were out meeting with Zabuza. Of course, he had some protection; Kurenai, Fugaku, Sasori and Deidara, and another of Itachi's old friends, Kisame, sat in the living room. Last time he'd looked in, Kurenai had been doing dishes; Deidara and Sasori were having some sort of argument about art; and Kisame and Fugaku were drinking and sharing stories of their days in the military.

He supposed they expected, with Sasuke's recent kidnapping and all, he'd be extra careful and stay put. Of course, none of them knew him very well. Naruto was headstrong and stubborn; there was no way he was going to sit quietly, safe in his room while that monster Orochimaru was doing gods-know-what to his best friend. Who maybe, just maybe, was beginning to be something more...

Naruto slung the back pack full of water, energy bars, and a small first aid-kit over his shoulders, the opened the window, being sure to scribble down a note that he was okay before slipping out into the crisp night air.

He wasn't quite sure where he was going, but it was as if something inside of him was pushing him in the right direction. Was it Kyuubi, one of the only links he had to his frightening past with Orochimaru...?

He followed along the paths through the forest that he'd taken in his nightmares. It was as if he was in a trance. The walk must have taken hours, but it felt like only a few minutes that he was amidst the dark trees. When he reached the clearing, the sky was beginning to lighten with impending sunrise.

That feeling inside of him told him that he was close to his destination. That somewhere in this clearing, he would find the entrance to Orochimaru's hideout.

He took a step into the clearing, then felt his heart sink as he noticed another figure standing near a large tree in the center of the clearing. He swiftly ducked behind a tree near where he was as the figure turned around, hoping that he hadn't been caught already, before he'd even gotten into the hideout.

However, hiding was no use. It was as if the person could see right through the trees to him.

"What are you doing here?" 


	9. The Escape

**Holy biscuits it's been a while. Well… I'm, back. :)**

**Make sure to review or you might scare me off again. ;o**

**Chapter Title: **The Escape

**Chapter Pairings: **ItaKure

**Chapter Warnings: **Violence, language

**Chapter Summary: **Just when Naruto thinks he has been caught, he finds an ally in the turmoil. Meanwhile, Sasuke has gained a few allies of his own and is planning an escape, and Itachi desperately searches for a way to ambush and defeat Orochimaru when the time for the trade comes.

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Naruto hid behind the large, sturdy oak praying to all of the gods out there that he had not been seen by the person standing in the clearing. His heart pounded, and he wondered if the sound of it alone would be enough to alert the other to his presence. He held his breath and stood as still as possible, while remaining tensed to run if he needed to. Just as he thought he was safe, a voice rang out.

"What are you doing here?"

Naruto froze at the sound of the voice, but not in fear. It sounded so familiar… but it couldn't be, could it?

"…Naruto-kun?"

It was. Naruto peeked out from behind the tree and got a good look at his company. Karin. Never in his life had he been more glad to see her.

"Karin-san? What are _you_ doing here?" he shot back in answer to her question. Slowly and carefully the red-head crossed the clearing to join him behind the tree. Naruto took in her disheveled appearance. She looked like she had literally just rolled out of bed. She wore no makeup, her hair was a mess, and she wore only a large t-shirt and flannel shorts.

"I'm not sure…" Her gaze drifted off into the distance. "I had a dream… a nightmare, I guess. And, well, I went out to get some fresh air, started walking, and the next thing I know… here I am. But seriously, what are you doing here?"

He hesitated for a moment, contemplating whether or not he should tell her, but his mind went blank as he noticed the tiny perfume bottle-shaped pendant around her neck.

"Where… did you get that….?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Her fingers flew to the pendant, wrapping around it protectively. "I got it a long time ago. From someone I used to know." In truth, she had not even remembered his face until a few weeks ago, but she knew whoever she had gotten it from she had indeed known very well.

"Was that someone… a man named Orochimaru?"

Karin felt her blood run cold and her aura fade to the stark white of shock. The sound of that name unlocked something within her, something that caused a flood of memories to surround her, drowning her.

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She stood awkwardly and uncomfortably facing him. It wasn't cold, but it felt damp, and her small frame shivered despite the heat pouring into the small room.

-This is where you will stay, dear girl. Try to get some sleep for now.

With an numb nod, she tiptoed carefully to a small bed of sheets and blankets on the hard cement floor and sat down, wrapping the thickest of the blankets around her.

He gazed at her for one long moment, then called to someone out in the hall.

-I want you to take a moment to memorize our auras. Know them well.

She focused hard in the dark, then nodded when she was sure that she would be able to pick the two out of a crowd.

-Now, pet, while I want you to rest, I also want you to begin paying me back for the favor I have done you.

She said nothing, and only stared up at him in wide-eyed silence.

-See this button on the wall?

She turned her head in the direction he was pointing.

-If you feel anyone's aura come by here, other than ours, I want you to hit that button, okay?

She nodded. It was the least she could do to complete such a simple task.

-Excellent. I know you will not let me down.

With a smirk, he and the other man left the room and she lay down, burrowing herself completely into the blankets. Sleep came, but it was fitful. The little room felt more like a prison than anything; not a single sound other than her faint breaths could be heard, and this disturbed her and prevented her from fully relaxing. But sleep did come. And it came every night after that.

It wasn't until the third night that she had to use the button. The sun was nearly beginning to rise when she felt a weak aura coming slowly down the hall. Something about the aura terrified her, and she faintly wondered what color it was to have such a heavy feel in the air. But her wondering did not last long and she quickly slammed her small palms against the red button on the wall. An alarm sounded, and within moments, she heard the sounds of a struggle outside of her little room, which ended with the slam of a heavy metal door at the end of the hallway.

Later, she realized that she was in a prison, but she was not a prisoner; that man had made her a jailor.

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"Karin?" Naruto stared at the profile of the woman, who looked like she had just seen a ghost.

And she had, in a way. The many ghosts of her past, flooding over her like the waves of the ocean. A after a moment of stunned silence, she realized something- something important.

"I know where we are."

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"Danzo-sama, please. I beg of you," said Itachi, his eyes burning with the threat of tears that he refused to shed.

The bandaged man called Danzo scoffed. "Uchiha, you have been a member of my forces for many years, and I have never known you to succumb to your emotions like this. Look at you; on your knees, _begging_? How weak." He shook his head. "You knew from the start that a dangerous assignment like this one would endanger your family." An evil smirk stretched over his face. "Must I do something drastic to harden your heart? That brother of yours may be precious to you, but your fiancée and your unborn child are just as precious, eh? It would be a shame if something happened to them."

Itachi froze on spot. "You wouldn't."

"Call my bluff if you dare, Uchiha, but my point is that you will not jeopardize this assignment with such a ridiculously clichéd idea as an _ambush._" He chuckled darkly, as if the very notion was hilarious. "Cast your emotions aside, Captain, or I will cast you aside. You are dismissed."

On embarrassingly shaky legs, Itachi stood, and with a bow to his boss, left the room.

"Well, that was pretty harsh."

Itachi's head whipped to the side. Despite his training, the disappointment of being unable to obtain the forces to complete his desperate ambush plan had left him unaware that someone was listening in on his conversation on the other side of the door. Itachi deliberately sculpted his face into the emotionless mask his comrades were used to seeing, and nodded. "Captain Hatake."

Hatake Kakashi, seven years his senior, leaned nonchalantly against the brick wall of the hallway leading from their superior's chambers, hands in his pocket and regarding the other carefully with one lazy eye. "No offense, but the idea of an ambush_ is_ rather silly."

Itachi did nothing to mask the bitterness in his voice. "None taken. Now if you'll excuse me."

Just as Itachi placed his hand on the doorknob leading out of the hallway and into the cold night air, Kakashi stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Wait." Itachi stopped, and waited patiently for the man to let him leave, almost tuning out what he said next. "It's a silly idea, but I can understand where you're coming from. And, I personally, would be willing to help you."

Itachi's eyes widened. "Help me? But why?"

The man's only visible eye turned up with the hint of a smile. "Because, even someone who has been a member of the Konoha Special Forces for as long as I have, knows that sometimes you have to follow your emotions, no matter what. And since it is obvious that you plan to attack Orochimaru whether you have the forces or not… Well, you've been an excellent comrade and I would hate to see you lose your life in a battle you have no chance of winning."

Itachi smirked. "And having you on my side would give me a chance at winning?" 

"Not necessarily, but the more men we have, the more likely the majority of us will come out alive."

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Sasuke experimentally wiggled the fingers on his right hand. The tiny threads of what used to be a thick rope stretched and snapped, and with an air of finality, fell on the concrete floor with a thud. He grinned triumphantly. It had been a long time since he had felt this good. It had taken three days of rubbing the rope bindings against the edge of the rough brick wall for him to finally wear the ropes thin.

Phase one of the escape plan, compete.

Slowly, painfully, he moved his arms in front of him groaning at the stiffness in his limbs and inspected the damage on his left wrist. It was bent awkwardly and swollen despite the tight bindings. The break he had incurred the day he was kidnapped had begun to heal, but not in the way that a broken bone should ever heal. He couldn't bend it, and there was no longer any pain. Just a faint pins and needles sensation that ran up his forearm every time he tried to move it. He frowned as he noted the infection in the rope burn as well, and wondered if, when all of this was over, he would even be able to keep his left hand.

Pushing his extensive injuries to the back of his mind, he placed his hands behind his back again, as if they were still tied and waited. Before long, as expected, Tayuya entered his cell with the vicious slam of the door behind her. It was time.

Today, he had learned from Kimimaro, was the day of the trade. If Naruto was truly as important a weapon as Orochimaru had made him out to be, he knew that there was no way that his father and brother would hand him over. They may be his family, but there was no way that they would trade for his life over what could possibly be the lives of all of Konoha. So then, since Naruto would probably not be at the trade, all he had to do was make sure that he was not at the trade to take the fall for it.

"C'mon pretty boy. The boss wants to see you," she growled, roughly grabbing his arm and yanking him to his feet, practically pulling him out the door and down the hall.

"Tayuya…sama…" he muttered in a shaky, weak voice as he focused on the pain, letting his face go sheet white. "I don't feel well…"

"What the hell do you mean, you don't feel well?" she hissed stopping at the end of the hallway, but before she had the chance to react further, Sasuke had collapsed in a faint. "Shit," she muttered, her heart beginning to race. 'This is bad,' she thought, 'if he's sick enough to collapse like that after moving a few feet… Dammit, if he dies Orochimaru's gonna kill me!'

Tayuya paced back and forth, circling the body crumpled on the floor wondering what to do. With a toe, she nudged his head. No response. She kicked it a bit harder. Not even a sound. 'Well, it doesn't look like he'll come to any time soon…'

"Hang on kid, I'll go get a medic," she practically pleaded as she ran off down the corridor.

From his place on the ground, Sasuke smirked.

Phase two, complete.

Pushing himself up on unsteady legs, Sasuke stood for a moment, leaning against a wall to fight the very real dizziness Tayuya's kicks had caused. In his time here, he had been to the medic hall twice. If he calculated correctly, he had exactly eight minutes to make himself invisible. Pushing his fear into the very back of his mind, Sasuke set off down the hall in the opposite direction that Tayuya had gone. His steps were slow and painful, but he knew that his soft, limping footfalls would work in his favor. Kimimaro had done him a favor in describing to him the only unguarded route out of Orochimaru's hideout. All he had to do was follow it. By the time he reached the final stretch of hallways, he had a full minute left until he was discovered missing on his mental clock. He was in the clear.

Phase three, com-

"This is the only unguarded route. If we're going to find him at all, it's going to be down here."

Sasuke froze. They voice was moving towards him faster than he could walk in his state. He was caught. He looked around desperately for a way he could escape before the voice turned the corner and saw him standing there.

"Man, I'm surprised how much you know about this place. You'd think since the time you were here he'd have changed the place up." Naruto. That voice was unmistakable. It had been the light at the end of the tunnel for the entirety of his stay in this place, and it was unquestionably his. But why, how? Was it a trap?

Sasuke pressed his back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position, turning his head towards the end of the hall. He was tired. He was in pain. He'd used up all of his adrenaline. He didn't care if it was a trap. If he got to see Naruto once more before Orochimaru and his followers killed them all, then nothing else mattered.

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Kakashi and Itachi took the drive back to the Uchiha residence in a contemplative but somber silence. Itachi supposed he should be happy at the support he had managed to gain, but at the same time he was also dreading the trade. What if his forces were not enough? He had some of the best and brightest fighters in the country on his side, but Orochimaru was also a force to be reckoned with. What would he do if, after everything he had done, he still lost both Naruto _and_ Sasuke?

He made a mental list. On his side were: four members of the KSF (Sasori, Deidara, Kisame, and Kakashi), Chief of Police (Fugaku), four escaped experiments (Zabuza, Suigetsu, Juugo, and Haku), and a few of Kakashi's friends from his days in the military (Hayate Gekko, Mitarashi Anko, and Umino Iruka).

It wasn't a bad mix… but it wasn't good either. 'It'll have to do,' Itachi thought, as he pulled into the driveway. Three new cars, belonging to Kakashi's three, he presumed, were parked in the grass.

"Well, they got here quickly," Kakashi noted, a tone of casual amusement in his voice.

Itachi nodded his appreciation. "Thank you, Hatake-san."

Kakashi shrugged, following behind the younger man as he unlocked the door and entered.

The living room was crowded with all of the people Itachi had made a mental list of, and yet the room was bathed in a grave silence. As they entered the room, all eyes turned to them.

The silence lasted another moment until Kurenai finally spoke up. "Itachi-koi… Naruto is gone."

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	10. Salvation?

**I actually made another chapter so soon! :D I think this is the longest one yet, too. This was the first fight scene I've ever written, so I hope I did okay. I also put up a cover for **_**Stand in the Rain,**_** so if you haven't seen it yet, check it out. Thanks to my new readers, you made my day with your reviews. **

**As a promotion to get more reviews, though, I have a little contest of sorts. :o First four reviewers on this chapter win things! **

**1****st****: I'll design a cover for one of your stories (Same drawing style that my story covers are)**

**2****nd****: I'll write a one-shot for a pairing and theme of your choosing (Naruto characters only)**

**3****rd****: I'll read and review one of your stories**

**4****th****: I'll give you a shout out in the next chapter**

**If you like the idea of that, let me know and I might do it again sometime. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Title: **Salvation?

**Chapter Pairings: **None

**Chapter Warnings: **Violence, language

**Chapter Summary: **Naruto, Sasuke, and Karin meet up. With Karin's knowledge of the hideout, the three think they'll be out in no time. But are they home free? Meanwhile, the others head out to the meeting place. Will they be able to find an opening to attack when Naruto isn't even present for the trade?

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"What the hell do you mean, gone?" Itachi shouts, so blindingly furious that he cannot even begin to mask his displeasure. "We are supposed to meet Orochimaru in _three hours _for the trade. How can he be gone? How could you have let anyone get close enough to kidnap him _three god damned hours _before the trade?" His mind is reeling as if he had just been slapped in the face- with a lead pipe- and all he can think is that this is it. His only chance of ever seeing his brother again, of protecting the entirety of Konoha has been taken right under their noses out the window.

Kurenai cautiously approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder and steering him towards the sofa. He did not protest, but only for fear of hurting his fiancée. Sitting down, he took a deep breath, trying to ignore his shaking hands.

"Are you calm now?" Zabuza asks, in a slightly mocking tone, and Itachi scolds himself for letting his emotions get the best of him so often in the past month since Sasuke had been missing.

Itachi clenches his fist and takes a deep breath repeating over and over, 'They'll be okay, they'll be okay,' and lets the anger ebb away like the tides. After a moment, he nods, his jaw still too tight to speak.

"Good, now listen. The brat left of his own accord. He wasn't kidnapped."

Itachi's face goes slack. "What?" he asked dumbly, knowing full well how naïve he sounded, but also not caring. He was tired, he was worried, he was angry, and his brain could not function any longer. The idea that Naruto had willingly run off just hours before the trade made no sense to him, and he was not afraid to admit it, not when all his overstimulated brain needed was a few hours of sleep.

Suigetsu frowned. "He just left. Right out the window. He left a note saying he was okay though. Kurenai did handwriting analysis on it. She says it was definitely his writing."

Kurenai nodded, taking a seat next to her fiancé and wrapping an arm around his tense shoulders. "He wasn't pressing too hard either, so it's more than likely that he wasn't under the sort of stress that he would be under had Orochimaru or anyone else forced him to write the note."

Itachi took another deep breath and leaned into the comforting touch. "Okay. So why? This still makes no sense." He was still very confused but at least now, he was calm enough that his brain had begun to function properly again.

"Well… our theory is that he may have gone after Sasuke," Haku speculated.

"Ah." Now it made sense. It was only natural that someone as sensitive to others' feelings as the young Kyuubi host would feel guilty at his best friend's capture, and he could understand Naruto's tendency towards brash, impulsive, and dangerous behavior. "Okay, so humor me. Why do none of you seem very worried about this?" His eyes narrowed as they all shrugged.

Fugaku, surprisingly was the first to speak up this time. "Well, Juugo and Suigetsu did an extensive search of the forest while you were gone, and they didn't find a single trace of him. Of course, that might be bad, but chances are… If we can't find him, than neither can Orochimaru. Not now when he is busy preparing for the trade."

"And not to mention, he's never shown any memory of his time with Orochimaru other than in nightmares. There's almost no way he would remember the location of his hideout," Zabuza added.

"Alright, so what the heck do we do?" asked Anko, one of Kakashi's comrades. "Even if we manage to escape with Sasuke unharmed, we still have no idea where the host is."

"If we can engage Orochimaru in battle quickly enough, we can probably make sure Sasuke is safe before he has the chance to realize that we don't even have the host. And in that case we wouldn't have to worry about either of their lives, leaving us to focus on immobilizing Orochimaru," Iruka- another of Kakashi's- supplied.

Itachi shut his eyes momentarily and thought. "Okay. I have a plan."

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Karin made a sign to Naruto to fall silent as they reached a turn in the hallway. He shot her a quizzical look, to which she leaned closer and whispered, "There's someone just around the corner."

"Really? How can you tell?" he asked as quietly as he could, though his volume still resembled that of a stage whisper.

"Umm… it's a long story…" The aura was small and light. "Whoever it is, they seem really weak. I think we can overpower them." Karin reached into the pockets of her flannel shorts for her keys, the only thing she had on her that could even remotely be considered a weapon. "Ready?"

Naruto nodded at her command and together they charged around the corner, prepared to knock out whoever was waiting for them before they had the chance to sound an alarm. But upon seeing the figure slumped against the side of the wall a little ways down the hallway, they stopped in their tracks.

Taking just about every ounce of strength he had left, Sasuke lifted his head and smirked. "Hey guys."

After a moment of shock, the two rushed to his side.

"Are you hurt?" asked Karin, her voice shaking. "No, sorry that was a stupid question; obviously you're hurt. I just… but… My god, your wrist," she stammered, taking in the extent of his injuries.

Sasuke glanced at this useless arm. "This? Can't even feel it. Now will you two care to explain what you're doing here…?"

"Can't even feel it? Lying teme," Naruto growled, pulling of his backpack and digging inside for the first aid kit. "Let me look at this…" he said, pulling out a few alcohol swabs and a splint. "We came to save you."

"It looks like his wrist has already started to heal. That splint won't do any good unless we re-break it, and now isn't the time for that," Karin pointed out softly, then turned her attention back to Sasuke. "I know you're probably wondering how we knew where to find you… But… it's kind of a long story, so how about we get you fixed up as best we can for now and get out of here?"

Sasuke let out a deep sigh and leaned his head against the wall. "Sounds like an amazing plan to me."

Karin pulled out a few more swabs from the kit and began dabbing at the rope burn on his right wrist, and for the first time in the entirety of his stay in Orochimaru's hideout, Sasuke felt fully relaxed. He was hurt, he was tired, he was in pain, but none of that mattered. Not now, when things were finally looking up. As his caretakers finished up their work and helped him stand, Sasuke realized that he had never felt more at peace.

Slowly, the three made their way down the hallway and exited the door just as a loud bang and a string of curses in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Tayuya's echoed through the facility.

Deep inside, Karin felt a strange sense of satisfaction at the woman's anger. She remembered that voice, and she remembered making Tayuya's acquaintance during her time with Orochimaru. Chuckling to herself, Karin wondered at the relentless flood of memories that had been unleashed in her mind after Naruto had given her the little push her subconscious needed to release those events that had been repressed. It was as if a dam had been broken down, and with it, her aura felt worlds lighter. It was rejuvenating. "If we head off through the woods this way, we can escape without being detected. Sasuke, do you think you can make it? The terrain's a little rough."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "If we take it slow, I should be okay. But… Karin… how do you know which way to go?"

"Yeah," Naruto complained. "You never told me either. You just started walking like a zombie or something." He stuck his lower lip out, pouting, and Karin smiled as she realized that being near Sasuke again had brought the old, peppy, loudmouth Naruto back.

"Like I said, it's a long story. Hey, once we're home safe and Sasuke's feeling better, I'll tell you guys all about it. And besides, you never told me what you were doing in that clearing in the middle of the night."

Sasuke ignored the headache forming from all of the confusion and looked up from his feet towards the thin forest path to get an idea of what obstacles were up ahead. Karin was right, the terrain was rough, and so he decided to just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. There were a few roots, and an upturned tree up ahead. Then a small hill, which would be difficult to get over, and then... a person walking towards them?

Karin and Naruto noticed the man pushing his way through the tree branches at the same time he did. It was as if he had come out of nowhere. The three stopped in their tracks as he spoke.

"I thought you might have come this way."

Naruto and Karin slowly left Sasuke's sides, preparing for a fight if the man was going to attack. "Are you with Orochimaru?" Naruto snarled, feeling a fierce need to protect his injured companion. Karin pulled out her keys again to use as a makeshift weapon, and moved beside Naruto to help cover Sasuke.

Just as Naruto was about to launch himself at the unwelcome guest, Sasuke stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, guys. He's safe." Sasuke took a few shaky steps forward, pushing past the other two. "Uncle Madara… what are you doing here?"

"U-uncle…?" Karin stared at the man wide-eyed, noticing the trademark appearance of the Uchiha clan in the man. But something was off… Karin's senses felt sharper than they ever had before. So why hadn't she noticed his aura?

"Sasuke…. It's been so long. I only wish we were meeting again under… less dire circumstances. My brother called me as soon as he found out that Naruto was missing. I've been involved with the Orochimaru Case for a very long time, and I have been keeping informed..." Madara tossed his long, wild dark hair back, red eyes glinting in the dark. "You…" he turned his gaze towards Naruto, who felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. "You are the Kyuubi host, are you not?"

Naruto swallowed hard. Never before had he acknowledged the dangerous secret that lurked within his DNA and it made him uncomfortable to do so. It was as if he were admitting that he was a monster, a freak of nature. "Uh, yeah. That's me…"

"Excellent." Madara walked behind them, as if herding them. "Now come, this way. I know a shortcut to the Uchiha household."

Naruto reluctantly followed behind the group, unsure as to why he felt so uneasy around this man. He was sure they had not met before, not even in the past that he had still yet to fully remember. There was just this palpable air of foreboding about him.

Uchiha Madara… Naruto had lived with the Uchiha for almost his entire life. And yet, he had never heard of this particular uncle of Sasuke's. He would almost accuse the man of being a phony, had Sasuke not sounded so certain of the man's identity upon seeing them.

As the sun sent waves of golden light over the horizon in a beautiful sunrise, Naruto grew more and more troubled. There were too many things that didn't add up about this situation.

First off, there was the fact that Karin was actually surprised by the appearance of the man. Karin was never surprised, and after the night's revelation of her own pendant, Naruto was sure that it was because of some form of talent she had gained from Orochimaru's experiments, much like Haku and Suigetsu's abilities. It was as if she could detect when another person was around, no matter how quiet or still they were being. Sasuke had been practically dead when they had found him, and still she had known he was there before they could actually see him, so why hadn't she detected Madara?

Then there was the fact that in practically a decade, none of Sasuke's relatives had ever mentioned an Uchiha Madara. Over the years, Naruto had met aunts, uncles, grandparents, and hundreds of cousins. Naruto did not claim to recall all of their names, but he was almost one hundred percent sure that Uchiha Fugaku had only one brother, Izuna.

Not to mention, if Madara had indeed been called here by Fugaku and was involved in the case, then how come he had known exactly where they would be? If he knew where the hideout was, then the others should know too. And if that was the case, then why hadn't they gone after Sasuke weeks ago?

And the most pressing issue: They had been walking for hours, and still, Naruto had yet to see any sign that they were close to home.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who was leaning heavily on both him and Karin. "Hey, Sasuke? I don't think we're going the right way…" he said, in the lowest whisper he could manage.

Karin gave them a worried look. "You mean you haven't seen any landmarks yet?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No, but that doesn't mean anything. I've never been in this part of the woods. Uncle says he knows the way, and I'm sure that he knows where he's going…"

"Okay, fair enough. But how come I've never heard of this uncle of yours?" Naruto pressed.

Sasuke stumbled slightly on a branch on the ground, and Naruto shifted so that he supported more of his weight. Sasuke groaned in pain at the strain on his twisted ankles. "I don't know. I guess he and my dad got into a fight once, and they haven't spoken since then. That was before you showed up, though."

"That's strange then, that your father would call him, isn't it?" Karin asked, dropping her voice to below a whisper, as she began to put the pieces together and see the strangeness of the situation.

Sasuke sighed. "Shit, I don't care as long as we're home soon…"

As if on cue, Madara suddenly stopped. Glancing back at them. "Not too much further now. Just through here." He pushed aside a clump of tree branches and waved them through a small hidden path off of the main trail.

Naruto glared suspiciously at the man that he decided he did not trust at all and helped Sasuke through the thin path, letting Karin drop in right behind them.

The sight that greeted them couldn't be any more different from home. They came out onto a ledge overlooking a wide, rocky clearing. Naruto's heart sank, and he set Sasuke down against the trunk of a tree for a much needed rest and rounded on Madara, prepared to chew him out for leading them in the wrong direction.

And then Karin screamed.

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"Fugaku…" Orochimaru purred as the two men approached each other. "It has been far too long… So, how does it feel to be the prey in our little game?"

Fugaku narrowed his eyes. "Where is Sasuke?" he demanded, forcing to ignore the man's jeering.

"Where is Naruto?" he fired right back. "Tayuya."

From behind him, Tayuya stepped forward, smirking as she tossed her vibrant tresses back behind her shoulder. "He's not here. I can't feel his aura."

Orochimaru clicked his tongue in disapproval. "And here I kept your son so safe… Is our deal off then, Fugaku?"

"You bet."

Fugaku quickly pulled out his gun from its holster along the side of his pants and fired a few shots at Orochimaru. He dodged each of the three bullets and pulled out a weapon of his own. "I thought you might decide not to play fair."

From behind Fugaku, Deidara scoffed. "Play fair? You wouldn't know "fair" if it fucked you in the ass, old man."

After that, the battlefield erupted into chaos.

Orochimaru's side outnumbered them, but Itachi had indeed gathered some of the best fighters in Konoha. Zabuza rushed onto the battlefield, slashing at the nearest enemy with an enormous, guillotine-like sword, and blocking a rain of bullets with its broad blade. Haku fought alongside him, disarming a few of the enemies with super-human speed, not even slowing down when a bullet grazed his arm.

Nearby, Kakashi fired a few rounds at the enemies further back. After taking down two, he paused to reload. During that pause, Tayuya and Ukon were able to sneak up behind him. Ukon landed a hard punch square to his gut, and Kakashi temporarily fell to his knees and dropped his gun, but used the fall to his advantage. He swiped out a leg, catching Tayuya and tripping her down. Rushing in, Gekko fired a shot to the back of her head finishing her off.

Ukon growled in anger as Tayuya ceased to move and through a roundhouse kick at Gekko, which he blocked easily, but failed to notice Kimimaro advancing on him, who ran him through with his sword. Coughing, Gekko fell to the ground. Kimimaro ran off to another section of the battlefield. And Kakashi finally recovered his gun and shot at Ukon, just barely catching him in the leg, but this was enough to incapacitate him and Kakashi swiftly finished him. Grabbing Gekko, Kakashi quickly moved him off of the field and inspected his wound. It was deep, but if he stayed out of the battle from then, he would probably be okay, and with that, Kakashi left him. There was no time for him to tend to his fallen comrade.

From high above in the trees, Itachi watched over the fray through the scope of his weapon, his thumb stroking the carved word _Amaterasu_ on the side of the sleek cool barrel of rifle and searched the field for Orochimaru. He was off to the side, out of the way of the worst of the battle watching as his underlings and experiments engaged in the carnage. Itachi closed his eyes briefly and hardened his heart against the violence he hated so much and trained the gun on Orochimaru. He positioned his fingers over the trigger and braced himself for the kick on the powerful weapon. Just as he was about to fire, a scream rang out across the clearing.


	11. Friend or Foe?

**I apologize for the long author's note… But it is necessary. Ish. To make up for it, I made the chapter extra-long.**

**So, I have an actual computer now. :D It really helps the quality of my stories, I think, when I'm not typing everything on my cell phone. Anyway, it's been a long time running, but Stand in the Rain is finally coming to an end. I'm kind of glad. I've sort of outgrown this story. **

**I started this like a year or two ago, and I was surprised that it was fairly well received, but after a long hiatus I lost a lot of reviewers (I know I deserve it :( ) and I've had trouble gaining my readers back with Stand in the Rain's return (they won't even review when I bribe them…XD) **_**SO**_** I'm looking forward to starting anew with another story.**

**Also, I released a one shot with slight NaruSasu called Muse. If you want to be awesome and make my day, you would read it and review. **

**Here are some summaries of ideas for my next chaptered story. Let me know what you think.**

**1. Sasuke lives out his days as a regular high school student, until one day he starts seeing things. Strange things. Unexplainable things. Scary things. The Things haunt his every waking moment, and though he insists that they are real, everyone else thinks he's crazy. Is he? NaruSasu, AU, Supernatural/Horror, probably around 11 or 12 chapters.**

**2. Itachi finds Sasuke dead, presumably by his own hand. Sasuke has always been depressed, and this doesn't surprise him, and so he thinks nothing of it- until Naruto receives a letter in the mail addressed to "The Fool." Is there more to the story than meets the eye? NaruSasu/ItaNaru, AU, Mystery/Romance, 22 chapters. **

**3. After a painful breakup in his senior year of high school, Sasuke is having a hard time moving on. It's in exactly the wrong place that he finds the strength to try again. NaruSasu/SasuSui, AU, Romance/Hurt and Comfort, 7 or 8 chapters.**

**4. At birth, Sasuke was separated from his biological family. Twenty years later he meets Itachi in a tiny restaurant. They quickly fall in love, but things change when Sasuke receives a letter from his birth parents wanting to meet him and he finds that Itachi is his older brother. Despite this news, neither can forget their feelings. Will they find a way to be together? ItaSasu, AU, Uchihacest, Romance/Family, about 10 chapters. **

**Let me know what you think!**

**Also, I know I'm pathetic but PLEASE REVIEW… It takes less than a minute of your day, and totally makes mine (puppy dog eyes). :3**

**Chapter Title: **Friend or Foe?

**Chapter Pairings: **NaruSasu, mentioned ZabuHaku, SasoDei, and ItaKure

**Chapter Warnings: **Violence, language, death

**Chapter Summary: **Madara enters the battlefield, but for what? Is he friend or foe? The battle reaches its climax. Who will emerge the victor? Afterwards, Naruto is nowhere to be found, and Itachi goes to look for him.

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With the scream, the fighting ceased and all eyes turned up toward the small cliff. Madara clamped a hand tightly over Karin's mouth, pressed a gun to her temple, then turned to Naruto and Sasuke who wore matching shocked expressions. "Either of you move or make a sound and the girl dies," he said simply, stepping forward to the edge of the cliff and looking out on those beneath him.

Fugaku blinked and shook his head. It couldn't be, could it?

Orochimaru growled in anger at the sight of the man. "What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped, eyes narrowing dangerously.

Madara laughed softly and took in the scene below him. "Look at all this fighting… all over your little experiment." His eyes fell on Fugaku. "It's nice to see you again, little brother."

"What are you doing here?" Fugaku asked, disbelief in his voice, not even realizing that he had simply repeated Orochimaru's question. "You've been off the case for years…"

"I've been off the case, but I haven't stopped watching. I found these three escaping out the back of your hideout. Funny how the tables turn when you least expect it, eh?" he added, nodding down at Orochimaru.

Fugaku swallowed hard and tried to keep his voice from shaking. This was certainly a very unfortunate and _dangerous_ turn of events. "Orochimaru, this man is not to be trusted under any circumstances. If Naruto falls into his hands… it will be nothing but trouble for all of us. What do you say we propose a temporary truce?"

Orochimaru glared at him suspiciously. "You mean he's not on your side?"

"His side?" Madara scoffed. "I do what I want, for my own gain, and nothing else ."

As the three spoke and their captor was preoccupied, Naruto ever so slowly crouched down so that he was sitting beside Sasuke. "What do we do?" he asked in an almost inaudible whisper.

Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing. You heard him, if we move or make any noise, he'll kill Karin."

Naruto sighed. "I hate not being able to do anything. "

"I know," Sasuke agreed, allowing Naruto to rest his head on his shoulder. Sasuke sighed at the contact. He was terrified that Madara would pull the trigger and end one of his best friend's lives right in front of him; he was confused beyond belief at the fact that his _uncle_ had turned on them; and he felt guilty and stupid for not having realized that something was off before it was too late. It was comforting to feel Naruto pressed against his hurt and tired body. Sasuke pressed his lips slightly to the top of Naruto's head and squeezed his eyes shut. It was painful, but there was really nothing they could do but wait.

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Itachi felt his heart twist painfully at the sight of his little brother. He was covered in cuts and bruises and he looked malnourished. It arose within him an intense urge to protect him from further harm. Without a second thought he placed his weapon in its holster, and silently slipped down from his vantage point in the trees and began to scale the rocky wall of the cliffs. He would get to them. He had to.

With ease, he pulled himself to the top of the cliff and took in the scene. Naruto and Sasuke crouched at the trunk of a tree and Madara and Karin stood near the edge of the cliff. Taking a deep breath, Itachi pushed away his emotions and thought rationally. He had to get to them without Madara noticing. If he did, he would surely kill Karin. While she was not his priority, he knew that it would be better if all of them came out of this alive.

Just as he began to contemplate simply running over there to distract Madara and hope that they were able to run, faster than even his well-trained eyes could see, Madara lifted his gun and fired a shot. Itachi turned to the clearing just in time to watch Orochimaru fall, his head instantly surrounded by a halo of red.

Before Itachi even had a chance to be shocked at his adversary's quick death, a new scuffle broke out.

Karin had not wasted the opportunity. As soon as the gun left her temple, she quickly shifted her weight forward, propelling both of them towards the edge of the cliff. Madara was taken by surprise, but even as he stumbled, he turned the gun back onto Karin and fired two shots. Despite his quick response, he was unable to regain his balance and fell into the ravine with a loud thud.

Gasping, Karin collapsed before she even realized she was injured, but that moment of blissful ignorance was short lived, and soon she could feel nothing but a stabbing, searing pain in her right shoulder and side.

At the bottom of the ravine, she faintly heard and shout of, "You little bitch," that could only have come from Madara. Through the pain, Karin smirked in satisfaction.

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As Karin hit the ground, Sasuke felt his blood run cold. A moment of blinding panic consumed him as he feared that Karin was dead. "No," he whispered, his face turning white with shock. A surge of adrenaline shot through his tired and aching body, enough to allow him to crawl over to where Karin lay. Naruto joined him seconds later. "Karin…?" he asked softly, desperate for her to answer.

Karin groaned and opened her eyes. Her glasses had fallen off in the struggle, and the pain left her unable to focus on their faces, but she recognized Naruto and Sasuke's auras. "…Hey… you two… okay…?" she asked, her breaths coming in shallow pants.

Sasuke nodded, feeling almost dizzy with relief as she moved and spoke. "Yeah, we're okay. And you're gonna be okay too, okay?" He pressed his hands as hard as he could with his own injured arms against the bullet wound in her side, knowing that that injury was more serious than the one in her shoulder. She whimpered as he applied pressure to the wound and squeezed her eyes shut, but felt reassured at the sound of his voice. They were going to be okay.

Moments later, Itachi joined them, immediately looking over the wounds. Itachi turned to Sasuke and smiled. "You're safe…. Well, for the most part, I suppose," he added with a chuckle.

Sasuke felt his throat tighten. _They we going to be okay._ Itachi gently pushed Sasuke's hands to the side, and pulled his first aid kit out from the pouch on his thigh, cut away her shirt enough to expose the wounds and applied a dressing to them.

Sasuke stared at his hands, covered in crimson blood that was not his, and wondered how things had gotten so out of control.

Itachi finished bandaging Karin's wounds and turned his attention back towards Sasuke, looking him up and down. "Your injuries are extensive but they aren't serious."

Sasuke nodded numbly, still staring at his hands, only looking up when he felt the comforting weight of the older male's hand on his shoulder. "Relax," he said, his deep voice smooth and clear amidst the chaos below them. "We're going to be okay."

Again Sasuke nodded, but with more conviction this time. He'd been telling himself that over and over for so long, but now, hearing the words from his older brother's lips, he finally believed them.

Itachi stood after collecting his supplies and walked towards Naruto, who now stood near the edge of the cliff. There was a strange expression in his eyes, one that unnerved even the seasoned special agent, and so he approached him cautiously. "Naruto-kun…?"

Naruto made no move to respond. His eyes were cast downward, staring intently. As Itachi grew closer, he felt something shift in the air. There was an energy surrounding him, an energy that was palpable- almost visible, even. "Naruto, are you okay?" The Uchiha asked. He had never felt energy like this before, but he remembered clearly the day his father brought him on to the Orochimaru Case.

The year before Naruto had come to live with them was the first year the Uchiha prodigy had begun working for the Konoha police force. Even at such an early age, Itachi's quick wits and ability to weave intricate lies to beguile opponents to the village's safety into trusting him made him the perfect spy. He began doing detective work for the Konoha Special forces, and of course, as Uchiha Fugaku's son he was quickly brought into the most pressing and extensive case in the force's history. He gathered intelligence for the force, and so he quickly became one of the most well informed agents on the case. But nothing would have prepared him for the aftermath of his father's first head to head run-in with Orochimaru.

His father was badly injured, but according to the mission reports, the snake-like man was even worse off. But the actual battle was not what bothered Fugaku. It was something that had happened during the battle. The emergence of Orochimaru's secret weapon- number 358.

That was the first time his father had experienced the power of the Kyuubi. He had described walking into the room as entering an electrical storm. You could feel the energy in the air, almost maddening with its strength. And then it explodes with the force of a thousand suns, and everything goes black.

Itachi understood now, the idea of the electrical storm. It was steadily and quickly brewing within Naruto, almost like a tornado about to touch down. But what should he do? Should he try and calm the young blond, or should he let the Kyuubi emerge and raze the battle field, ending this once and for all.

Naruto turned slowly towards Itachi, the same strange look in his eyes, but now with a touch of fear. "I don't know what's happening to me…" He looked down at his hands where a red energy began to gather. "What is this? Is this the Kyuubi?"

Itachi hesitated, then nodded. There was no use hiding things from the boy anymore. They had crossed the point of no return long ago.

"I see." Naruto fell silent. He was shaking slightly, and Itachi realized that he was probably trying to hold back the Kyuubi from taking over, but the parasite was surging through his blood now, altering his hormones and his mind. In another way, he had crossed the point of no return. "It's strange… I saw Karin hurt and I just… I felt so angry and now-" Naruto's voice broke off as a surge of head splitting pain struck him like a lightning strike. "I can't stop it… Get them to safety," he shouted, gesturing to Karin and Sasuke who watched wide-eyed. A growl ripped from his throat. Itachi could feel it. It was about to explode, just the way his father described.

Nodding again, Itachi dashed to where the other two sat and carefully positioned Karin over his right shoulder and supported Sasuke with his left and quickly moved them deep into the forest where they would be safe. Like a vicious dog on their heels, the energy expanded , chasing after them. As the sphere of killing intent washed over them, Karin shuddered. She didn't even have to look to see the aura of the Kyuubi as it consumed its host. "What… what is that?" she muttered.

In the distance the energy gathered and assembled around its host, who no longer even looked human, until finally, like a volcano, it erupted.

And everything went dark.

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For a while, there was nothing. No light, no sound, no earth beneath their feat. There was simply darkness, nothingness.

And then, ever so slowly, the world came back to them. Itachi awoke first, groaning as his eyes opened to the pale light of the full moon. He was sore and his body ached, but he was not injured. Closing his eyes again, he rested his head against the soft, cool moss. It was a moment before he fully remembered the events of what felt like minutes ago, but once he had fully returned to consciousness Itachi sat up with a jolt.

How could it be night time already? They had started the battle just as the sun was rising- and where were Sasuke and Karin? Itachi ignored the burning in his limbs and jumped to his feet looking all around him. Karin was a few yards away, lying at the base of a thick oak tree. Sasuke was in the same position about a meter to the right.

Itachi rushed to Sasuke's side and checked his pulse. The blast had left him battered, and a bit worse for wear, but he was alive. With a groan from his aching arms, Itachi lifted Sasuke and carried him to where Karin lay and sat him against the base of the tree. There were scrapes all over her bare legs and arms and her knees and palms were raw and bloodied. Gently, Itachi turned her onto her side to take the pressure off of the bullet wounds. They had bled through and the deep red fluid had formed a small pool beneath her. Itachi pressed his fingers to the inside of her wrist. Her pulse was weak and erratic and her breaths were shallow. He couldn't help but fear that if she did not receive proper medical attention soon, she would die after all.

A low, pained moan followed by a string of curses to his left alerted him to Sasuke awakening. "What the hell happened…?" he muttered, pressing shaking hands to the side of his throbbing head. Itachi moved to his side and placed his hand on his back comfortingly. Sasuke looked up at him, eyes bleary and unfocused from being unconscious for so long. "Nii-san… You're okay…" his eyes shifted towards Karin and they opened wide in alarm. "Is she…?"

Itachi shook his head. "She's alive. But barely. Keep an eye on her. I need to check on the battle field. So much time has passed who knows what's happened over there."

Sasuke nodded. "Should I do anything in specific?"

The older Uchiha only sighed. "There's nothing you can do really. If she awakens, keep her calm. I'll be back in a minute."

Following the trail of upturned trees, Itachi found his way easily back to the cliff he had first spotted them on. The battlefield, as he had expected, was completely leveled. Each of Orochimaru's men laid slain, deep slash wounds scarring their skin. Their injuries were brutal, and Itachi shuddered to think that it had been Naruto who had caused such damage. His eyes landed on Madara briefly, but Itachi had to look away. The man he had once called uncle was shredded to pieces.

Itachi jumped down into the clearing stumbling slightly as his aching legs absorbed the shock of the jump and walked through the battlefield. He paused momentarily at Orochimaru's body, and Itachi felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. He may have been sick and twisted, but his reasons for experimentation were almost understandable. The man was a genius, no doubt. If only he had used his intelligence for good, and not evil.

Most of his men were relatively unharmed, but as Itachi made his rounds around the clearing of dead and unconscious people, rousing those who were only sleeping as he went, he noted four casualties.

Hayate Gekko. The first to lose his life. If he had received medical attention for his injuries, he would certainly have lived, but after the emergence of the Kyuubi, the battle had stretched on for too long. He had bled to death.

Momochi Zabuza. The man who had been their most valuable ally throughout. As Haku awoke, Itachi turned away from the younger man's grief as he flung himself over the body of the man he had loved. Zabuza had died protecting him. The scene made his heart ache, and he thanked the gods that Mikoto had convinced his fiancée to remain safely at home. He could not imagine how it would have felt to lose the woman he loved so dearly…

Akasuna Sasori. Itachi stood over the corpse of the fallen red head for several long moments. This death pained him particularly. In high school, Sasori had been Itachi's closest friend, closer even than Kisame. Sasori had been the only one he'd truly related to, as they both had skipped multiple grades and were far above their peers intelligence-wise. He remembered too, when the stress from working with the police department got to him, Sasori was always there to help him think logically through his problems and determine the best possible course of action. Itachi bowed his head, giving himself a moment to mourn the loss of a friend before moving on.

Iwa Deidara. As the sounds of Haku's sorrow carried over the cool night air, Itachi felt a twinge of what was almost relief as he stood near the blond. Though he and Deidara had not been close, he understood the love he had shared with Sasori, and Itachi was glad that they were spared from the pain of living without one another.

There was a heaviness in his heart at their passing, but Itachi knew very well that they were incredibly lucky to have lost so few of their men.

Itachi made his way to where his father sat, leaning against the very boulder that had badly bruised his ribs and almost crushed him. Upon seeing Itachi, he smiled a rare, weak smile. "You're okay. I was worried when I saw you were missing from the battle…"

Itachi nodded stiffly. "I was relocating Sasuke and his friend to somewhere they would be safe from the energy blast."

Fugaku bobbed his head dismissively and Itachi felt a surge of anger at his lack of concern for his other son's safety, but pushed it down. Now was not the time to deal with that.

"Where is Naruto?" Itachi asked instead, noting that the Kyuubi host was missing from the carnage. He was not too worried. After the Kyuubi parasite surfaced its host was nearly invincible, so he knew that it was not likely that he was dead or injured. But still, Itachi worried about the boy who had become like a second brother to him over the years.

"I don't know… I blacked out before I got to see the Kyuubi in action. The blast knocked a boulder onto me." Fugaku shook his head, almost ashamed. He wasn't as quick as he was when he was younger and the sudden blast had taken him by surprise.

Itachi sighed. He figured that the case would be the same with almost all of the witnesses. It made things more difficult, but not terribly so. "Alright. I'm going to get Sasuke and the girl medical attention, and then I will look for Naruto."

Fugaku was about to protest- his oldest son looked tired and he knew that, if he didn't take it easy, he was in danger of collapsing from exhaustion- but something in Itachi's gaze stopped him. It was _that_ look. The one that Mikoto would get when her mind was dead set on something. Instead he offered a simple, "Be careful," and let him go on his way.

With a sigh that turned into a yawn half way through, Fugaku gave the command for his men to evacuate the battlefield and slowly they stood- those who were well supporting the injured and the dead. He reached into his back pocket for his radio. "Chief Uchiha to HQ: send out a team to clean up the battle, ASAP. We won."

A moment of static, followed by the eager voice of his secretary, "HQ to Chief Uchiha: Determining your location now. Congrats on the victory!"

Fugaku clipped the radio back to his belt, feeling no need to respond. It may have been a fairly anticlimactic ending to a long struggle, but it sure was a victory.

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As Itachi scaled the wall of the cliff once again, it finally hit him. The fight was over. Orochimaru and Madara were dead. They were safe. Despite the heaviness in his heart, Itachi felt light as air. No longer would they have to live in fear of what would happen next. No longer would they have to question the trustworthiness of everyone they met. And finally Naruto, Sasuke, Karin, Haku, and Suigetsu would finally be able to live like normal teenagers, free from the weight of Orochimaru's presence in their lives.

But as he took in the sight of Sasuke curled up among the roots of the oak tree with Karin's head resting on his lap, lightly stroking her hair, Itachi was painfully aware that while the battle was over, there was still the aftermath to deal with.

He stood for a moment, watching them. It was rare for his younger brother to show any form of physical affection- even to his closest friends- and it was heartwarming to see them like this. Itachi smiled as he noted that Karin's breathing had evened out and she was sleeping more peacefully.

Sasuke looked up, catching his brother's eye, and gave a small smile. "How are things out there?"

Itachi's smile slipped. "We have four casualties on our side."

"Who?"

"Gekko, Zabuza, Deidara… and Sasori," he reported, keeping sadness out of his tone.

Sasuke looked down. "I'm sorry. I know you and Sasori were close." There was a hit of guilt in his tone. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "If I hadn't gotten kidnapped…"

"Everything would have turned out the same," Itachi finished, his voice stern. He sat beside Sasuke and placed an arm over his shoulder. "This isn't your fault. None of this is. It's more my fault for not insisting that you had people guarding you as well as Naruto. Naruto is fine, don't worry about that right now," he added as he saw the alarmed look pass over his face. "Right now, we need to get you two back home."

"Home?" Sasuke looked perplexed. "Shouldn't we be going to the hospital?"

Itachi shook his head. "Too many questions. We have a private medic unit under the KSF. We're going to have them come in and take care of the injured. That way we can keep this under wraps."

Sasuke nodded. It still seemed strange to him to not go to the hospital for such injuries as theirs, but he also realized that he wasn't a part of the special forces. He did not know how they worked, or how important it was to keep any decrease in their ranks- such as the death of Gekko, Sasori, and Deidara- a secret.

Itachi gestured to Karin. "How has she been?"

"I think she's okay… She came to for about a minute, but the she passed out again." Sasuke gave her sheet white face a worried look. "She's lost a lot of blood…"

"Yes, but it's not as bad as it looks," Itachi reassured him. He stood and lifted Karin with him, then offered out an arm to help Sasuke stand, but he shook his head and pulled himself into a standing position.

His twisted ankle had mostly healed from lying in one place for nearly the entire day. His limbs screamed for him to sit back down and just lay there, but he summoned the last of his adrenaline and forced himself forward. "I can walk." It might have been a pitiful excuse for walking, but Sasuke knew that his brother was tired as well and it would be difficult for him to support both of them.

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It seemed like an eternity, but eventually they made it home. Sasuke had never in his life been more happy to see the looming presence of the Uchiha compound.

Itachi rang the doorbell and a very worried Mikoto answered the door. "Oh my goodness, just look at you two," she scolded her boys, not knowing what else to do in the rush of overwhelming emotion. "The medics are here, you can lay her in Sasuke's room," she added quickly seeing the state that Karin was in. As they walked in and she properly laid eyes on Sasuke, for the thousandth time since the beginning of this mess she burst into tears. She pulled Sasuke into a tight but careful hug, and he fell into her embrace. It had been too long since he'd seen his family.

Without removing her arms from around him, she helped him up the stairs and into his room. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise as he stepped through the door. His bedroom had been converted into what seemed like a mini hospital room. There were several machines lined up by the window and even a few ready-to-go IV drips, and the beds were lined with a thick plastic covering to keep the blood off, and already Itachi was lowering Karin onto Naruto's bed. As soon as she was situated, Kurenai set to work hooking her up to a heart monitor and what looked like a blood transfusion.

Kurenai smiled at him as she noticed him staring. "It's good to see you again, Sasuke. I'll be taking care of you two today."

Sasuke turned to Itachi. "She's on the medical unit you were talking about? I thought she was a teacher?"

Itachi nodded. "She mostly does spy work, hence her cover job, but she's also a very talented medic." Sasuke noted the hint of pride to his tone. "Don't worry, you're in good hands."

Sasuke laid down on his bed and watched with heavy eyes as Kurenai cut the rest of Karin's shirt off, and disinfected and redressed her wounds. They looked bad, and he found himself wondering if she would be able to use her arm again, after the wound in her shoulder healed. Again the feeling of guilt washed over him.

Trying to push it away, he focused his attention elsewhere, anywhere else. His gaze dropped to Kurenai's midsection. He scoffed as he realized that she looked much more pregnant than she's had before he'd left. Surely Fugaku had noticed by now. Sasuke found himself smirking smugly at Itachi who sat at the edge of his bed, disinfecting some of his deeper scrapes and cuts. He nudged Itachi with his toe and nodded towards Kurenai. "How did father react?"

Itachi followed his gaze, his eyes lingering on the form of his fiancée as she worked. "React to what?"

"Surely the cat's out of the bag by now about the baby?"

Itachi laughed softly. "No he hasn't noticed yet. Mother has, though, and she was… a little disappointed. But she was excited though. It gave her something positive to look forward to while you were gone."

Sasuke's smirk fell away. "I guess I worried you guys a lot, huh?" The guilt was back, but Sasuke was determined to push it down. He had made a vow, trapped in the dark cells of Orochimaru's lair to change his outlook on life, and he was determined to stick to it.

Itachi patted his calf as he finished bandaging a particularly nasty scrape on his hand. "Yes, but you're okay, and that's all that matters."

As Kurenai finished bandaging Karin's wounds, she reached into a bin resting on a small wheeled cart, removed another roll of gauze, and pulled a chair from Sasuke's desk to the side of his bed. "Alright, now let me take a look at you…" Her thin, gloved hands slowly felt along his bruised limbs, looking for breaks, and frowned when she saw the state his wrist was in. "This is going to need to be re-broken…"

Kurenai lightly pinched his fingers. "Did you feel that?" Sasuke shook his head. His entire hand felt numb, like a useless sack of flour on the end of his arm. "Hmm… hopefully it's just nerve damage, because that usually can be reversed through physical therapy…" She paused in her mumbling and pulled an IV over. "Alright, sweetie. This is going to take a while, so I'm going to give you something to help you sleep through it."

Sasuke nodded, letting his eyes fall shut as Kurenai tapped for a vein and swabbed the area with an alcohol prep pad before inserting the needle and taping it down. It had been thirty long days since he'd slept in a proper bed, and Sasuke was skeptical that he would awaken for anything, even without the medicine. Within moments he was sound asleep.

As Kurenai set to work bandaging and disinfecting, Itachi stood. "I'm going to look for Naruto."

Kurenai glanced at him worriedly. "You're exhausted. Can't you send someone else?"

Itachi shook his head. "Everyone else is exhausted too. It wouldn't be fair. And besides, I think I know where to find him."

Kurenai sighed. "Alright. I should know better than to try and stop you when you're set on something." Itachi smiled at his fiancée's quick give-in to his protests. And lightly kissed her lips. "Be careful, and come back safe, okay?" she ordered, placing a hand briefly over her stomach.

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**Thanks for reading! And for the love of Itachi, REVIEW. :D**


	12. Aftermath

**So I had a rant here because I didn't get any reviews for the last chapter… but it just turned out FanFiction was freaking out. It didn't send the alert for the new chapter until like a day or two after I posted it, and I didn't get alerts for the reviews I did get. XD Good, I was about to rage-quit. So thanks for responding to my pleas. :D And super-duper extra special thanks to the reader who reviewed my other fic, Muse. **

**Although I have a computer now, I still don't have internet at home, which is why I never really respond to reviews I do get. I apologize, but seriously, if you review, you are awesome. If you review consistently, you are Batman. :D Moving on. **

**Okay, so fighting and action scenes aren't really my thing, which is why last chapter was so awkward. :o But hey, gotta start somewhere? It got better once we were back to character interactions. I debated whether or not to kill off Fugaku quite a bit. I thought it might be an interesting development, but eventually I decided to give him a chance for redemption and to have Gekko go instead. He's just one of those characters that is meant to die. u.u **

**So this… is the last chapter, I guess. There will be an epilogue set a year or two later, but this is the last true chapter. After such a long break from writing, the plot is probably a bit different from what I initially planned, since I lost the outline and after my hiatus I couldn't really remember where I was going with certain things. Ah well. If you notice any questions left unanswered or any unresolved subplots, let me know and I'll be sure to tie it all up in the epilogue. **

**As for my next story, someone said option two looked interesting, which is awesome because I have a pretty solid outline for that one, so that's probably the one I'm going to end up posting.**

**Other than that, the other one that I would really like to write is option three, but I probably won't do that one because SasuSui- for some reason I just don't understand- is not a popular pairing. I don't get it. They're adorable together! D: And in my opinion, Suigetsu is the perfect rival to shake up a NaruSasu romance, but everyone always uses Sai or Neji instead. Personally, I think Suigetsu's an even better match for Sasuke than Naruto even, because he has the snarky attitude to effectively counter Sasuke's tendency towards moodiness and self-pity. SIGH. But anyway, on with the story. This chapter is a **_**monster.**_

**Chapter Title: **Aftermath

**Chapter Pairings: **Onesided!ItaNaru, NaruSasu, ShikaKarin

**Chapter Warnings: **Language, OOC!Sasuke (he's been through a lot, so give him a break :P)

**Chapter Summary: **Itachi sets off to find Naruto, who has fled from the scene of the battle. Afterwards, everyone deals with the aftermath of the battle in their own way. Meanwhile Naruto struggles to make sense of his feelings for both Itachi and Sasuke.

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When Itachi returned to the clearing where the battle had taken place, it was empty and silent, so different from what it had been only a few hours ago. Aside from a few bloodstains he was sure were left in the dirt but he could not see in the moonlight, the clean-up squad had done a good job in making the place look the way it had before the battle.

Itachi squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them, focusing hard on what little light there was the way he had learned in his training to improve his night vision. At the edge of the clearing, several trees had been upturned, as if torn aside. It was obvious that the damage had not come from the initial blast from the Kyuubi emerging, and it was likely that that was the direction Naruto had left the battle field. Itachi drew his katana from where it was holstered against his back and used it to cut away some of the thicker tree branches in his path.

The terrain was rocky, and Itachi made his way carefully along the pathway, using his well-honed tracking skills. It wasn't long before he found a few footprints digging into the soft dirt where thick roots once grew. From here, about a quarter mile from the battle field, the damage to the trees and surrounding environment ceased. Itachi guessed that it was at this point that the Kyuubi had returned to dormancy. But still the footprints lead on, leading deeper and deeper into the forest. They were meandering at first, as if he had been unsure where to go and was simply wandering, but soon they became more direct and Itachi had a strong feeling that he knew exactly where they were headed.

After only about five minutes for walking the footprints broke out onto a well-worn walking trail that Itachi was quite familiar with. He set off, faster and with more conviction, pausing only occasionally to make sure he was still following the trail of footprints.

A clap of thunder rumbled through the night sky as Itachi emerged from the woods, pushing aside a few branches that had covered the mouth of the path and gazed out upon the place he and Sasuke had spent so much time in when they were younger: the playground on a property owned by the Uchiha family about a mile or so from the place they called home.

Fat raindrops feel from the sky leaving dark spots on Itachi's uniform as a strong feeling of nostalgia filled him. He was reminded, of course, of the day he and Sasuke had found Naruto lying on the ground in a rainstorm so similar to the one that was beginning now. As it steadily began to rain harder and harder, he squinted against the barrage of water as he searched.

Naruto sat, alone underneath the small pavilion to keep dry. He looked up at the sky, watching the rain fall with a blank expression. Itachi could not feel the Kyuubi's energy, and this confirmed his suspicion that the parasite had returned to dormancy within its exhausted host.

Itachi walked to where Naruto sat and joined him on the bench of the damp picnic table, noting the blood on him. As he approached, Naruto turned his intense stare from the sky to his new company. For a long moment, neither said anything, until finally Itachi broke the silence. "Are you hurt?" he asked, his voice soft with concern.

Naruto gave a barely noticeable shake of his head, shivering in the chill of the humid night. He opened his mouth, as if searching for something to say, then closed it and shook his head again. Itachi waited patiently. "I'm sorry," he worked out eventually, his voice raspy with anger and sadness. "I'm sorry," he repeated, a tear slipping from his stormy blue eyes and rolling down his scarred cheek. "I… I killed them…" He cast his eyes downward, staring at his palms crusted with dried blood that was not his own.

Itachi sighed softly, feeling almost like a broken record. "It isn't your fault." It was the truth, but he knew he would have a difficult time convincing him otherwise.

As predicted, Naruto shook his head again. "I'm… a monster. How could I go for so long not knowing that something like this was inside of me?" He continued to stare intently at his hands, his hands that were dirty with lives taken. The pain and the fear began to close in on him as the full extent of what happened on the battlefield finally hit him. For a moment, he was thrown back into the way he felt when he was with Orochimaru- as if he were drowning and there was no way he would ever see the light again.

Itachi sighed again and spoke, his words like a life preserver thrown into Naruto's own personal ocean of despair. "Kyuubi is a parasite. It is unfortunate that you are the host, but that is not something you have control over."

Naruto said nothing. From anyone else he would have taken those words as cold comfort, but Itachi's deep voice was so calm, so soothing. It was hard not to believe him. "Aren't… aren't you mad at me?"

The Uchiha's eyes widened. "Of course not. Why would I be angry with you?"

Deep blue eyes shined in the light of the moon once again. "Sasori-san is…. Because of me…" Naruto stammered, trying to force the words out. He had killed Itachi's best friend. "And Deidara-sensei, too… and Zabuza, after he did all of this trying to protect me…"

Itachi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "You did not kill them," he stated firmly. "They may have died as an indirect result of the Kyuubi's emergence, but that was something you had no control over. It is very unfortunate, and I will miss my friend and comrades dearly, but I could never blame you for their deaths, and I could never be angry with you because of it."

With his words, Naruto felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. "And," Itachi continued, "No one else blames you either. They are worried about you. They want you to come home safely."

Naruto's eyes mimicked the clouds as tears of relief streamed down his cheeks. Itachi pulled him into a tight hug, and Naruto returned the contact immediately, burying his head against the other's chest, desperately reminding himself that his love for the older male could never be as the feeling welled up in his heart.

After a moment that Naruto wished would never end, the two parted. Itachi stood, glancing meaningfully to the skies outside of the safety of the pavilion's enclosure, and then to Naruto who had busied himself with drying his tears. "We should be getting back soon, but if you want we can wait until the rain dies down," he offered, aware of Naruto's phobia.

But he only shook his head, sprinkling raindrops from his damp bland hair. After finally realizing what the Kyuubi was, Naruto was beyond running and hiding from his fears. He pushed himself off of the picnic table and stepped out from under the covered pavilion to _stand in the rain._

It was so similar to his first visit to the little playground, but this time, the rain was not harsh- it was not beating him down. It was purifying him. Freeing him. Washing away his sins and the blood on his hands.

Itachi watched him, amazed at how quickly he had bounced back from this tragedy, but also not surprised. Naruto was a lot stronger than he gave himself credit for, and it was about time he started to realize this.

Naruto turned to him, and Itachi was pleased to see that the heaviness had faded from his electric blue eyes. "Let's go home." His voice faltered on the last word of his sentence and his face paled as he remembered the injured states of his friends. "They're safe aren't they?" he asked, practically begging for the answer to be affirmative, and knowing that Itachi would quickly realize who he meant by "they."

"They're at the house now, yes. When I left, they were both doing fine," he reassured, smiling softly. "You'll see them soon. Let's go home," he repeated, setting off on the familiar path.

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When they returned to the Uchiha residence, daylight was just beginning to break on the horizon. The house was silent. Everyone had either gone home or to bed, and Naruto was grateful for this. He wasn't ready to face the others yet. Not after they had seen him like that. Together he and Itachi ascended the staircase, stopped in the bathroom for a few towels, and entered the room he shared with Sasuke.

As they entered, Kurenai smiled widely. "Naruto-kun, I'm glad to see that you're safe. Are you at all hurt?"

Naruto shook his head. Despite the powerful effects of the Kyuubi , he had emerged from the battle completely unscathed. "How are they…?" he asked, as he stared at Sasuke and Karin who both seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"They'll both be okay. Sasuke-kun had a few broken bones, but I was able to set them without much difficulty. I was worried about the bullet wound to Karin-san's side, but it looks like she got lucky. It just missed her vital organs. I gave them both some painkillers and an antibiotic to fight infection. All they need now is rest," she reported as she looked him over, despite his insistence that he was unhurt. "And so, do you two," she added matter-of-factly.

Itachi placed a hand on his fiancée's shoulder. "You've been up all night tending to the wounded. All of this exertion isn't good for the baby. You go get some sleep, and I'll look after these three."

"But you're exhausted, too," Naruto pointed out before Kurenai had the chance to protest. "I'm not tired at all, thanks to the Kyuubi. I could watch over them for now…" he offered, almost hopefully. He had been sick with worry over Sasuke for too long, and he was looking forward to just being near him and being able to see that he was alive and safe.

Kurenai sighed. "Normally, I wouldn't allow that, but you do have a point. Thank you for your offer." She stood and stretched, holding back a yawn. "Now, if either of them shows any sign of distress or discomfort, come get me immediately. There's a pitcher of water on that cart. If they awaken, give them some. If they are in any pain, just come get me and I'll give them something. Got it?"

Naruto nodded and took her place in the chair near the window as she called over her shoulder that she'd be in Itachi's room if he needed anything.

Once he was alone, Naruto pulled his chair closer to Sasuke's bed and rested his head against the wall. Outside, the sounds of the rain carried on and crickets chirruped somewhere in the distance. This was the first time he was able to listen to the sounds of a rainstorm without feeling any anxiety. In fact, it was almost calming.

He passed the hours by simply watching Sasuke sleep, and occasionally checking on Karin. The rain beat on and the next day was overcast, and the lack of sun helped everyone to sleep through the morning.

Absently, Naruto reached out a finger, tracing a path along Sasuke's unusually gaunt jaw. He supposed that Orochimaru hadn't fed him very much while he was being held prisoner. He remembered, vaguely, when he first came to live with the Uchihas how Mikoto would often complain that he was too thin and give him extra food.

His fingers came to a stop at his lips. They were rougher than they had been before, and they seemed dark against his pale flesh, but still the memory of them caressing his skin made his face heat up.

All of the action of the past few days had taken his mind off of his romantic issues, but now, after seeing both Itachi and Sasuke, they were back and more confusing than ever. He still thought he loved Itachi… but could it really be love when there was no chance that his feelings would ever be returned? And when Sasuke had kissed him, he had definitely felt _something._ But he didn't understand what that kiss meant. Was Sasuke just comforting him as a friend, or did he want there to be more between them?

"Do _I_ want there to be more between us…?" he whispered aloud, lost in thought.

"Get your hands off of me, idiot."

Naruto jumped at the sound of Sasuke's voice, only now realizing that his hands had come to rest on a bruise on his collar bone. "Oh, s-sorry… Hey wait, you're awake?"

Sasuke slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "Yeah… mother and Kurenai haven't stopped fussing over me since I got here, so I was pretending to sleep. I must've dozed off for real thou-" he trailed off into a yawn. "Damn, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since… even before that snake bastard kidnapped me."

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked softly.

Sasuke bit back a sarcastic retort- they had been through a lot recently- and simply nodded. He glanced around the room. On Naruto's bed, Karin still slept. "Is she still okay?"

Naruto nodded and summarized Kurenai's report of her condition. "How does your arm feel? Are you in any pain?" he added, then, remembering Kurenai's instructions, stood to pour a glass of water for him.

"Compared to how I felt a week ago, I feel great." He glanced at his arm, which was now immobilized in a plaster cast. Remembering the numbness in the limb he had felt for the past few days, he tried to wiggle his fingers. There was a shock of pain down his wrist to his elbow, but at the very least he had some feeling again. That was a good thing. When Naruto handed him the glass of water, he muttered his thanks and took it with his good hand, drinking steadily from the straw.

Naruto reclaimed his position at Sasuke's bedside and watched him with a nervous look. "What did… what did Orochimaru… do to you?" he eventually spat out, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't really see him all that much. He put some bitch in charge of me and she and her two subordinates would torture me… He did make some… strange comments about wanting a new face," Sasuke shivered at the memory, "but this one guy who was actually against Orochimaru too, Kimimaro, mostly stopped him from seeing me. He didn't experiment on me or anything, if that's what you're asking."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Good, I'm glad… Suigetsu, Juugo, and Haku- and… me, too, I guess- are pretty cool guys, but what Orochimaru made them into is just so… unnatural."

Sasuke stared at him curiously. "I… saw the Kyuubi, I think…" Naruto said nothing, waiting for him to continue. Did Sasuke think he was a monster? Was he afraid? Sasuke hesitated for a moment, leaving Naruto to think the worst, but eventually he blurted out. "It was actually… kind of awesome."

Naruto felt his jaw drop, then his face stretched into a wide grin. "Yeah, I guess I was pretty awesome huh? I did take down the entirety of Orochimaru's army." He rubbed the back of his head, noting that his hair had dried .

Sasuke noted that it was raining outside and Naruto's shirt was damp. And yet he didn't seem nervous or afraid at all. "Have you finally gotten over your fear of the rain?" he asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I suppose I have."

A smirk spread over the brunet's face. "So suddenly? And to think you used to cry and beg to sleep with aniki whenever it rained."

"C'mon," he whined. "I was, like, seven years old! Are you really gonna' hold that against me, bastard?"

"Who are you calling bastard, dumbass?"

And just like that, they were back to their old routine, hurling insult after insult at each other. When Naruto first showed up, Sasuke- though not his savior- had become a sort of an instant best friend to him. While Itachi remained an enigma to him, always just out of reach, Sasuke had been by his side the whole time.

As they ran out of names to call each other and the conversation- if you could call it that- faded, Naruto fell into a contemplative silence.

"Don't think too hard, you might give yourself an aneurysm."

Naruto glared. "I'm not sure what that means, but I'm pretty sure it was an insult. You don't need to be a prick… I was just thinking…" he trailed off, as if he wasn't sure exactly how to say what he wanted to say.

"About…?" This time, Sasuke's voice was softer, slightly concerned.

Naruto turned his gaze towards the window and watched the raindrops racing down the window pane. There was no way he could look Sasuke in the eye as he said this. "Before you got kidnapped… when we had that talk about math and stuff…" he hesitated. "Look… I know you just woke up and everything, and this is probably the last thing you want to talk about right now, but… When you kissed me that day, what did that mean? Why did you do that?"

Sasuke busied himself with twirling the straw around the rim of his half empty cup with the casted thumb of his left hand. For once, Naruto was right. That _was_ exactly the last thing he wanted to talk about right now. He sighed deeply as he thought of the best way to go about this. He wanted to avoid the question all together, but that was what he had been doing before his absence, and nothing good had come of it.

"I did it because I like you. A lot." Sasuke surprised himself by simply coming right out and saying it, and was even more surprised at how easy the words had felt rolling off his tongue. Obviously Naruto had not been expecting such a frank answer either. He stared at Sasuke, blue eyes that he loved so much opened wide in shock. Sasuke nervously bit down on his lip, and for once in his life, completely disregarded his verbal filter. "Normally I wouldn't say something like that, but I think we've both had enough close calls with our lives in the past few days that it's obvious that we need to stop running from our fears and hiding from our feelings. So, yeah, I like you. But I'm not expecting anything to come of it, and I know you like my brother and everything… So if you don't feel the same, then don't worry about it. I just needed to get that off my chest. I mean… YOLO, right?" he finished in an incredibly awkward and uncharacteristically lame manner, reaching up to sheepishly rub at the back of his head.

Naruto's gaze turned from incredulous to dumbfounded. "So let me get this straight. I'm being contemplative and broody, and you're being corny and straightforward? Did we switch brains or something? I mean seriously, 'YOLO'? That's the best you could come up with?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and pushed his lower lip out in a pout. "Must be the painkillers."

Naruto sighed and shook his head… "But yeah, on a more serious note. Yes, I have feelings for your brother… but I kind of have feelings for you too."

"Kind of?"

"Let me finish!" Naruto glared again, then rested his head against the bed. Letting out a groan of frustration. "Um. Yeah, I have feelings for you both. But obviously, I'm never gonna be able to be with Itachi. And I do like you, so… if you wanted to… I'd like to see where this goes."

Sasuke nodded slowly. He didn't exactly like the feeling that Naruto was settling for second best here, but at least he was finally getting a chance. "Yeah… I want to."

Naruto hesitated for a moment, then reached over for Sasuke's good hand. The two watched as tanned skin intertwined with ivory. "So… are we like… together now?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

Sasuke sighed as Naruto's thumb began to lightly stroke the side of his hand, but it was a sigh of contentment. It had been a long time since he had felt so at peace.

Naruto grinned. "Know what that means? As soon as you're better, I get to take you on a date."

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Over the past week, both Sasuke and Karin had improved greatly. After a long rest, Sasuke was practically back to normal, save for his broken wrist and a few cracked ribs, and Karin had woken up a few days before. It would take her a bit longer to heal, but Kurenai had casted her arm from shoulder to wrist to prevent it from moving around as the wound to her shoulder healed, and though she still could not bend in the middle due to the wound to her side, it was steadily getting to the point where she could stay in a sitting/reclining position.

The moment Karin had been conscious and aware enough to make conversation, she had begged Kurenai to call up Gaara and Shikamaru to come see them, but she had forbidden it until today, aside from the occasional, short visit from Shikamaru to Karin.

Before then, Itachi, Mikoto, Kurenai, and Naruto had been the only visitors, but they had come very frequently, often spending hours keeping them company. They had appreciated it, but it was nice to have just the four of them together again- arguing and teasing included.

"Checkmate," Shikamaru muttered tiredly as he bested Sasuke in yet another game of Chess. "Man you really suck today."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in a glare, about to say something before Gaara interrupted him. "You shouldn't expect too much of him. He has just gone a little over a month without doing anything even remotely intelligent," a comment that earned him a kick in the side from where he sat in a chair, pulled up close to the bed Karin was using.

"Seriously guys? You're so mean," Karin supplied in his defense. "He's been through a lot of horrible things and you should be nice to him," she scolded the two who sat on the floor.

"Alright, alright," Shikamaru relented, not wanting his girlfriend's wrath. "Best 16 out of 31? I'll go easy this time."

Sasuke shook his head. "No. Even when you go 'easy' you're still hard to beat. I'm gonna quit while I'm... Yeah, I don't want to play anymore." He yawned as Shikamaru shrugged and began to clear the board. 

"Tired?" Gaara asked quietly, a hint of concern in his voice.

"Yeah…" Sasuke glanced at the clock, sighing as he realized that it was only three in the afternoon. "I don't want to go to sleep now though… Being in a dark cell for a month really messes up your sleep pattern." He stifled another yawn as he slowly stood and moved to sit on the edge of his bed. Kurenai had removed almost all of the hospital equipment from the room, aside from a few basic supplies, and finally-with the antiseptic smell gone and his friends around- it felt like home again.

As the three drifted off into a comfortable silence, Sasuke's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, I have something to tell you guys."

At the surprised tone of his voice, the three gazed at him curiously. Sasuke couldn't believe that he'd forgotten such an important event. "Naruto and I are… going out.."

"When did that happen?" Gaara asked, surprised but happy for his friend.

"A few days ago, after we got back from the battle." He blushed slightly. "Once Kurenai lets me out of the house, we're going to go get lunch together."

Karin practically squealed in excitement. "Awww, you guys are gonna be so cute together! Have you kissed him yet?"

Sasuke's blushed deepened. "No, not yet…"

"Darn it! I can't believe I missed this! How could you guys get together while I was sleeping?" she whined.

Shikamaru chuckled. "Possible because you'd be squealing like a maniac about how adorable they are? And besides isn't that a bit hypocritical of you?"

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked, curious as to what they had been up to while he was asleep.

Karin blushed and Shikamaru returned to his lazy ways. "You tell them."

Instantly, her hands moved to toy with a thin silver band around her finger. "Well… Shikamaru asked me to marry him." She held up her hand to properly display the ring. "And, obviously, I said yes."

Gaara's gaze turned from mild surprise to downright shock, and Sasuke's expression matched his. "You're getting married?" 

"When?"

Shikamaru waved away their questions. "Not for a while. Maybe not even until after college. I just proposed now because…" his eyes drifted to her heavily bandaged side. "Almost losing her made me realize how much I love her. I don't want to waste any time, you know?" He stretched lazily as he said it, but it was obvious to them that he meant it.

Sasuke watched them with an odd feeling. This event had changed everyone, not just those that were directly affected by it.

His thoughts drifted to the next school year. Everything would be different then; Sasuke and Naruto would be together, Karin and Shikamaru would be gone- both of them on to Konoha University. Gaara, Sasuke, and Naruto would be seniors and preparing for college themselves.

The conversation died again, and all four sat lost in their own thoughts. They stayed like that for a long time, simply enjoying each other's company, but it was eventually broken by a soft knock on the door, revealing the last person Sasuke expected to visit: his father.

Fugaku stood awkwardly in the doorway, leaning on the frame for support. His broken ribs were healing slowly, and it pained his to walk around very much, but he knew he would have to visit his son eventually. "Sasuke… may I speak with you privately?"

Shikamaru and Gaara stood to leave the room. Karin, unsure what to do with her immobility, feigned sleep before he noticed her to avoid any added awkwardness. After they left to wait in the hallway, Fugaku moved in and sat in the chair that Sasuke had occupied previously.

Sasuke waited nervously, not entirely sure what to expect. It was a very rare occasion for the two to be alone in a room together, and even rarer for them to speak one on one. Though they didn't exactly dislike each other, they had never been on especially good terms. Sasuke had always felt that his father resented his birth and the fact that he wasn't as smart or as athletic as Itachi was, and their relationship had always been strained- almost forced by Mikoto.

There was a tense silence for a moment until Sasuke prompted, "What did you want to speak to me about, father?"

Fugaku coughed slightly as if to cover up his embarrassment. "Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing… How are your injuries…?"

"Uh, they're not that bad actually… I'm healing, anyway."

Fugaku nodded. "Good, good." He hesitated. "I… I'm glad you're alright."

Sasuke shrugged slightly, not sure what to make of their conversation. It seemed like Fugaku had something more to say, but whatever it was, it wasn't coming out. And so Sasuke struggled to keep the conversation going. Anything was better than this uncomfortable silence. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh, yes. Just a few broken ribs. I've felt worse."

"That's not really… I meant…" Sasuke breathed deeply as he began to grow flustered. Why was speaking to his father so _hard?_ "I mean, I know you weren't on the best terms with him, but… you lost your brother in the battle…"

Fugaku raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Sasuke to ask about his emotional wellbeing, but he supposed he should have. Sasuke always had been the more sympathetic and emotional of the Uchiha men. "I… yes, I'm okay. It's… unfortunate, but life goes on," he said dismissively.

"I suppose." Sasuke pulled at a loose string on the comforter of his bed to keep from falling into his old habit of chewing on his thumb nail. It was something Fugaku had always ridiculed him for.

Again, the silence stretched on, and a sense of anger began to well up within the youngest Uchiha. "Is that all you wanted?" he asked, forcing the harshness out of his tone.

Fugaku stood, as if he were about to leave, then sat down. "No. Look, Sasuke. I… I know I haven't been the best father to you…" He took a deep breath. "But… I do love you, and I am truly glad that you're home safe… And… I'm proud of you. I was very impressed with the way you handled this situation. Not many people would come back from being tortured and held prisoner by Orochimaru and be as mentally… okay as you seem to be." Fugaku shifted awkwardly in his seat. "You've been very brave."

Sasuke felt as if an immense weight had been lifted from his chest. His father was _proud of him._ He had been longing to hear those words from his father's mouth for so long, and for him to finally, _finally_, gain the acceptance he was seeking… The feeling was indescribable. Sasuke felt that he was close to tears, but he held them in. He could not bring himself to cry in front of his father. All he could mutter was an embarrassed, "Thank you…"

But Fugaku was not finished. "Even though you seem alright…" he continued "It's okay if you aren't. I've been tortured before as well," he shared, a bit uncomfortably. "So, I know what it's like. And I know how hard it can be… If you're having nightmares, or anxiety problems, or if you just need to talk about what happened there… I… You can talk to me. I'm… I'm here for you."

The offer was nice, but Sasuke knew that he would not take him up on it. Every night since Kurenai took him off of the medication she had been giving him to lull him into a dreamless sleep, he had horrible nightmares. Sometimes of the moment he realized that he was being kidnapped, sometimes of the terrifying bone whip… and worst of all, of Orochimaru, wearing his face.

Even though it seemed as if Fugaku was making an attempt to reach out and repair the fragile threads of their almost non-existent relationship, Sasuke just didn't feel comfortable sharing such a personal thing with him. But maybe- just maybe- someday he would. The thought filled Sasuke with a strange sense of hope, and the sincerity of the offer made the tears even harder to hold back. Again, all he could force out without his voice breaking was a simple, "Thank you."

Fugaku nodded and stood, giving Sasuke's shoulder a light squeeze. "You look tired. I leave so you can get some sleep."

Fugaku left the room, and after a moment, Shikamaru and Gaara reentered, a look of curiosity on their faces. As she heard the door shut, Karin moved back into a sitting position. And Sasuke noted there were tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Startled, Shikamaru moved to her side. "Are you okay? What the hell did he say?" Shikamaru knew from comforting Sasuke that Fugaku could be very cold and hurtful, and so he was worried that he had said something that upset her. But she simply shook her head.

"That was just… so sweet… I'm so happy for you, Sasuke… Your aura is positively _glowing_," she choked out between sobs.

Sasuke laughed a bit at the fact that she had been almost just as affected by the scene as he was, but his laughter died quickly. Karin had lost her parents when she was very little, and he knew very well that her strong sense of empathy allowed her to get a taste of what she would never experience with her father, through watching others.

"I'm sorry," she muttered as she regained her composure. "I'm a total sap for father/son bonding moments…"

Gaara took in the scene incredulously. He glanced at Sasuke, who was still struggling not to start bawling like Karin himself. "What… happened?"

"My father… He… told me that he was proud of me," he explained, almost uncertain that it had even happened.

Everyone certainly had changed.

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Itachi struck the match and watched as the flame roared to life and then dulled to an ashy glow. Carefully, he lit a white candle as he stared out at the solemn faces of his friends. Kisame dimmed the lights in the small theatre of their old high school as he shook out the match, the soft light from the candle illuminating the stage nicely.

"It's weird, being here without them," a thin woman with midnight blue hair whispered into the thick silence of the room.

Each of them muttered words of agreement, and Itachi wondered at the different directions the former members of the Akatsuki Theatre Group had taken. Pein, who had once been the president of their little club had gone into politics. Konan, who had done hair and makeup for them was now famous doing just that in Hollywood. Kisame, the leader of their backstage crew had gone into the military, and now worked beside Itachi in the special forces. Kakuzu, their treasurer had continued working with money and was now an accountant. Hidan, who had never been the smartest, and who had never made the best choices, had surprisingly straightened out and was now pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice. Zetsu, who had struggled with bipolar disorder throughout high school had put his experiences to good use and was now working as a psychologist.

And yet, despite their differences and the physical distance between them, here they were in the place where they first bonded to honor their two fallen friends.

"I'm glad you and Pein were able to come, Konan," Itachi said. "I know it's a long way from Hollywood to Konoha. Congratulations on your marriage, by the way."

Itachi's ex offered a sad smile in return. "It's no trouble at all. And thank you. I'm sorry we didn't invite you guys…" she trailed off and sighed sadly. "I know we grew apart, but… you know, I always thought I'd see them again…" She gazed at the candle flame, flickering softly in the darkness.

"I know what you mean," Hidan added. "Shit, it's been way too long since we were all together like this. Why the hell did we all stop talking anyway?"

"Our lives just took us to different places…" Kisame muttered.

Konan shook her head. "But that's no excuse. You and Itachi, and Sasori and Deidara are- were involved in a dangerous line of work. You or Itachi could lose your lives just like them at any moment. Let's just… let's promise to stay in touch from now on. I don't want to find out one of you died and then regret the fact that I haven't spoken to you in years."

Again, each voiced their agreement.

"I'm glad the school let us do this…" Pein gestured to the candle as he said it.

"Figures they never supported us when we were at the damn school, but now that we're all successful and shit…" Hidan huffed, but pushed his anger away. He would probably rant at the school later, but right now they were here for Sasori and Deidara.

Silently, they all sat together in a circle around the candle, some praying, and some simply watching the flames. And there they stayed, not speaking a word until the staff came to let them know they were locking the school up for the night.

**pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

Haku sat on the edge of the balcony, watching as his feet swayed slightly over the edge. Behind him, Suigetsu and Juugo packed up the small amount of things they had brought to the little house belonging to one of Zabuza's contacts. With Zabuza gone, it was no longer safe for them to stay there.

Haku reached a slender hand up to toy with the jagged ends of his hair, almost expecting to be met with long, silky strands rather than the harsh edges of the bob he now sported. Zabuza had loved his hair, and in memory of his dead lover, he had shorn the locks to the nape of his neck- to be buried with him.

From behind him, he heard footsteps, but he did not turn to look. Likely, it was one of his comrades come to ask his opinion on what they should do next. Where should they go? What should they do?

Suigetsu sat beside him, and Haku offered a tiny, but insincere smile, glancing over as empty brown eyes were met with vibrant violet. "How are you doing?" he asked softly, placing a hand in a way he hoped was comforting on his shoulder.

Haku shrugged. "I've been as okay as I can be." He sighed. When they left Orochimaru's, Haku had always been aware of the dangers… of the possibility that they would be separated, but that didn't make it any easier.

Suigetsu nodded. He wanted to do more to comfort him, but there was nothing he could say or do that would fix the hurt he'd suffered. "Hey… we've gotta get out of here. We packed up some stuff we'll need…"

"Okay."

Suigetsu hesitated, and the momentary pause pregnant with so many things he wanted to say and do, but he let the opportunity slip away. It wouldn't do either of them any good for Suigetsu to admit his feelings for the effeminate male. Not now, and maybe not even ever.

Suigetsu gave him a sort of awkward pat on the shoulder and stood. "Any ideas where we should go? We… don't really have a place anymore, do we?"

Haku made no response. What Suigetsu said was undeniably, painfully true. Haku had always been the confident, in control one, but now his ground had slipped out from under him.

"Don't worry. We'll find a place," Juugo said as he filled the last bag that they could easily take with them.

Haku glanced at him. It was unlike Juugo to be optimistic. "What makes you so sure? How can there be a place in the world for broken tools?"

Juugo shook his head. "Our original purpose may be fulfilled, but that does not mean we are useless now. As long as we stay together, I'm sure we can find somewhere we can be of use."

Haku stood, brushed the dirt off of his pants, and grabbed one of the bags. "I can only hope you're right."

And so the three left, never once looking back. All they could do was move forward and hope that someday, they would find a place in a world none of them was entirely sure they weren't too corrupted for.

**Pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

Fugaku sipped from his glass of water to stop himself from sighing with exasperation at his wife watching him with a glare. "Yes, Mikoto?" he asked tiredly as he gingerly ran a hand along his tightly bandaged ribs.

Mikoto placed a hand on her hip, not pleased with his tone. "Have you been to see Sasuke yet?" she asked, a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Ever since Sasuke had been returned home safely, she had been nagging for Fugaku to pay his youngest son a visit, to see how he was doing. But unlike every other time she had scolded him, now he was able to answer in the affirmative. "Yes, I spoke with him yesterday afternoon."

Mikoto raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She certainly hadn't expected that answer. "And… how did it go?"

"I guess it went well," he said with a sort of half shrug, favoring his uninjured side. "He seemed alright, all things considered."

Mikoto nodded slowly unsure what to make of Fugaku's vague report. "I see…"

Fugaku smirked. "You've been yelling at me for a week to go see him and when I finally do all you have to say is, 'I see'?"

"I was just surprised is all. You two don't quite have a… perfect relationship…"

"I know," Fugaku sighed. "But… I want to change that."

Mikoto stared at her husband, suspiciously. "…Really?"

"Yes! Why is that so hard to believe?"

The Uchiha matriarch simply shook her head incredulously. "I wonder," she droned sarcastically. But then she let out a giggle that let him know she was joking. "I'm glad, though. It's about time you two started getting along."

"Yes," he agreed. Standing slowly, sucking in a sharp breath as his ribs resisted, Fugaku made his way towards the window, the same view he had had that first day Naruto had been well and conscious. The scene had changed little, but now, so many years later, he did not see three young boys playing in the gardens after weeks of seemingly endless rain. Instead, they sat- almost fully grown men- on the porch steps, laughing and talking animatedly as they gazed out the refreshing greenness.

The storm was over, and the clear, cerulean sky was ablaze with the sun's rays casting brilliant threads of color across the horizon.

It would not- could not- stay like that forever, but for now, there was a sense of hope and contentment settling over the compound. And that was enough.

**Pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

**And that's it! It's been a rough road, but it's over now. **

**I would recommend listening to the song Stand in the Rain by Superchick, the song the story is named after at the end. **

**Liked it? Hated it? Tell me why in a review and keep an eye out for the epilogue! :D**


	13. Epilogue

**So, I'm going to **_**try**_** to keep ranting to a minimum here. First off, thanks to everyone who has stuck with Stand in the Rain for this long. XD **

**Second, my new story (option two, for those of you who read my author's note a few chapters ago) is out. Do me a favor, check it out and review. :3 Same old song and dance here. **

**Last, I have a couple of other moments occurring in the main timeline that didn't quite fit in the story that I really wanted to write. Some of my ideas include:**

**Sasuke Meets Shikamaru and Gaara**

**Madara and Fugaku's Fight**

**Sasuke and Naruto's First Date**

**Itachi and Kurenai's Wedding**

**Karin Explains Auras**

**Konan Meets Kurenai**

**Sasuke's Nightmares**

**Sakura and Kiba Give Naruto Relationship Advice**

**Shikamaru and Karin's Wedding**

**If you'd like to see any of those or if there's something else you'd like to see, check out my collection of side stories, After the Rain. :D**

**Chapter Title: **Epilogue

**Chapter Pairings: **NaruSasu, ShikaKarin, ItaKure

**Chapter Warnings: **Language, OC, suggestive themes

**Chapter Summary: **Set about two years after the main events of the story.

**Pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

Sasuke checked his watch, and then glanced up at the closed door to the dressing room. "Come on, Karin," he shouted as he loudly as he felt comfortable with in the tiny boutique.

"Oh hush," came he muffled reply from behind the door. "This stuff takes time!"

Naruto chuckled as Sasuke grimaced and placed a hand on his arm. "Hey, don't worry. We're not that late. And besides, this is really important to Karin."

Sasuke shrugged. He suppose that his boyfriend was right. With a sigh, he scooted closer to the blond on the small bench and rested his head on his shoulder, ignoring the odd look he got from one of the dressing room attendants. "I know, I know. But you know how much of a stickler I am for punctuality."

Naruto flashed him a goofy grin, and Sasuke almost can't stop himself from blushing. "Just be good a little while longer and when we get back home after all this…" Naruto trailed off in his promise as the dressing room door opened and Karin emerged along with a second fitting room attendant, positively beaming.

Both boys sucked in a breath, going wide eyed. She wore a magnificent white gown, with a sweetheart neckline and billowing skirts. A white rose pattern sketched a seductive line down her body, adding to the alluring effect.

"Holy crap, Karin," Naruto muttered. "It's gorgeous!" Sasuke nodded his agreement.

"You think so?" Karin giggled with giddiness as she ran her hands down the stain fabric of the western styled wedding dress. Her smile faded a bit. "I love it. The only thing is… It's sleeveless." Her fingers moved self-consciously to the old bullet wound scar on her shoulder.

Sasuke stood and walked over to her, placing a hand on hers. "Karin, we're supposed to be proud of our scars, remember?" He gestured to his own arms, which displayed the marks of his past in thin pink lines crisscrossing up and down his wrist. "And you don't even have anything to be ashamed about, not like me; You got your scars protecting your friends." 

Karin gave a soft sigh. She was close to tears now, totally overwhelmed by emotions ranging from joy to sadness, and not entirely sure what to do with it. "I know, I know… It's just… I want to look my best for Shikamaru, you know?" 

Sasuke smirked. "Scar or no scar, you're one of the most beautiful women I know. If I can see that, then so can Shikamaru."

Karin stepped forward and pulled him into a crushing hug. "I'm so glad that we were able to become friends," she mutters, thoroughly enjoying the ways in which her formerly depressed and stoic friend had changed since his kidnapping. As they pulled away, she had to wipe her eyes a bit. "You're right. This dress is perfect," she says turning to the fitting attendant. "I'll take it."

"Alright, now get changed and let's get going," Sasuke said, clapping his hands.

"Sasuke!" Naruto scolded, slapping his arm playfully.

Karin laughed as she returned to the fitting room. "It's okay, I understand. You don't want to be late for your niece's birthday."

Naruto sighed. "I guess. Man, time flies. I can't believe she's turning two already."

"Tell me about it… It seems like just yesterday that we found out about the whole Kyuubi thing."

Naruto casted his eyes downward. Even though he shouldn't, he still couldn't help but feel guilty over everything that happened. He tried not to dwell on it, but it was hard. Since then, the parasite had remained dormant in his body, but Naruto was always afraid that something might make it emerge again.

When Karin was finished changing and writing a check for the up-front cost of the dress, the three set off together to the Uchiha compound.

**Pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

As they walked through the door, Itachi glanced up from the table where he sat with Fugaku, Kisame, and Pein. "You're late," he says with a smirk, enjoying the twitch of annoyance on his brother's face. 

"We know… Sorry, Itachi-san, that took longer than I expected," Karin apologized, bowing slightly. Though she and Itachi had gotten to know each other fairly well during the time she shared a room with Sasuke, she still found herself feeling slightly intimidated by the taller, stern looking man.

He chuckled good naturedly. "Oh it's no problem at all. I'm glad you guys could come." He ruffled Sasuke's hair, messing up the style and earning him an angry swat.

"So where's the birthday girl?" Naruto asked before Sasuke flipped out about his hair.

Itachi sighed. "Haruka's with mother, Kurenai, and Konan. They're picking out her outfit."

Sasuke glared. "You say we're late but she's not even dressed yet?"

"Funny story about this, actually. See, I had her dressed in this adorable blue sundress, but when we got here and mother and Konan saw her, they convinced my wife that my taste in fashion was terrible and the dress was not suitable for a party at all. So now the men of the family have been condemned to the kitchen while they play fashion police." He rolled his eyes and shrugged, and the three couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, they totally have a point! It's her second birthday! This is a big deal, she shouldn't be wearing a _sundress_," Karin argued, then excitedly ran off to help out. Karin loved kids and the innocence in their auras. Though she knew she should wait until she and Shikamaru had stable jobs, she could hardly wait before they had children of their own, which was why she enjoyed watching Haruka grow up in the meantime.

Itachi frowned and shook his head. "Women. I just don't understand them."

Fugaku chuckles lightly from his seat at the table. "And it never gets easier, son," he glanced at Sasuke and Naruto. "You two are lucky you'll never have to deal with that."

It had been difficult, but the two had eventually told their family about their relationship. It had come as a surprise, but it actually went over fairly easily. Fugaku and Mikoto had spent such a long time suspecting and preparing themselves to find out that Itachi was gay, that it was a bit easier to transfer those feelings to their younger son, who would not be relied upon to produce an heir. It had been awkward at first, of course, but by now everyone had come to accept it.

Naruto sheepishly rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "That's one way to look at it."

"So how has college been for you two?" Itachi asked, sparing them the awkward conversation. "Did you enjoy your first semester?"

Naruto frowned slightly. He and Sasuke, despite months of fighting about it, had wound up going to separate colleges- Naruto to Kage University to major in political science, and Sasuke to Oto University for genetics. It had been difficult maintaining a long distance relationship, but they were still together, and whenever they were on break- like now- they would share a hotel room and catch up. "It's been fun, I guess. It's great having all of this freedom." The 'it would be better with Sasuke' went without saying.

Sasuke nodded his agreement. "The freedom has been nice, but I'll admit, it's been a challenge. I'm studying pretty much constantly."

"But your hard work will pay off," Fugaku added. "I heard you made straight A's for the first semester. Congratulations. That's hard to do even without being in the honors college."

Sasuke hid it well, but Naruto could tell he was beaming. Ever since the incident, Fugaku had stayed true to his word and was finally becoming closer to both of his sons, but even so, Sasuke could not stop the giddy feeling he got when his father complimented him. "Thank you, father," he said simply.

"How has work been treating you?" Naruto asked Itachi. After Haruka was born, both Itachi and Kurenai had retired from the forces. Both of them wanted to be there for their child- they could no longer deal with a career in which either might lose their lives at any moment. And so, Kurenai had stuck to teaching full time and not just as a cover job, and Itachi had finished his final year of business school and had become CEO of some kind of manufacturing company.

"It's interesting…" he said, though his voice betrayed otherwise. "Okay, so it's fairly boring compared to what I used to do, but it's safer, too, and that's what's important to me right now."

"That's right… And you and Kurenai are getting ready for baby number two, right?" he added with a smirk. Over the years, his feelings for Itachi had faded, and now he was able to be a part of his former love's family life without feeling any jealousy.

Itachi chuckled. "Yes, now that Kurenai both have stable lives that _aren't_ incredibly dangerous, we are looking forward to expanding our family."

From the table, Kisame gave a smirk. "And how many more kids am I going to have to be godfather to?" he asked, glaring at his best friend, though there was no intensity behind the gaze. Kisame had retired from the forces as well. Older than Itachi, he was no longer in his prime and now lived comfortably off of his pension from his days in the forces as well as veteran benefits from his military career.

"Only about three or four more…" he laughed, only half joking. He had spent too long in a broken and miserable family, and now that he was shaping his own home life to be happy and positive, he wanted to share his joy with a large family. Although he knew his wife would vehemently oppose carrying six children, he hoped that maybe she would settle for four. But for now, he was more than happy just raising Haruka.

Pein wrinkled his pierced nose. "I don't know how you can even stand having _one_ kid around constantly. But then again, Konan and I never were parent material."

"That's true… I'm glad the two of you came though, despite your hatred towards children."

Pein shrugged, not sure how to answer that without being offensive, and thankfully he was soon saved by the reentry of the women, with Haruka in tow.

The little girl- who so much resembled her mother, accept for in the eyes, which were undoubtedly her father's- was beaming from all the attention, and now dressed in a ruffley purple dress.

Itachi had to admit, that particular outfit looked much more suitable for a party. Konan stuck her pierced tongue out at her friend at the confession. "See, I told you! Haruka-chan, now tell daddy what you said before."

Haruka smiled, bearing her tiny toddler teeth. "Daddy has bad taste!"

Itachi sighed and shook his head as the others laughed at his expense. And to think he had _another_ daughter on the way.

**Pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

When Naruto and Sasuke returned to their hotel room, the sun was just beginning to set. Naruto flopped onto the pillowy queen sized mattress and kicked his shoes off, letting them drop onto the floor.

Sasuke clicked his tongue and shook his head. "You always leave your shoes lying everywhere and then you get all surprised when you can't find them right before we have to leave," he scolded as he bent down to pick up the shoes and place them near the door.

"Okay, mom," Naruto responded, giving a halfhearted glare to his boyfriend. "Now come here. I haven't had a chance to be alone with you all day."

Sasuke smiled and joined him on the bed, grabbing the remote and flipping on the TV as he did so and put on a movie channel where _Dracula_ was playing.

Naruto chuckled a bit as they cuddled. "Ah, _Dracula_… I remember how confused you were when we read that book in lit."

Sasuke blushed a bit. He had never realized that Naruto actually noticed his incompetence in that class. "I was not _confused…_"

"Yeah you were." Naruto grinned and the expression reminded him of a fox. "You had no idea what was going on the entire novel. You're lucky I gave you those daily summaries."

Again, Sasuke flushed. So Naruto had done that on purpose. He had always assumed that he had gone on and on about the reading because- well, he was Naruto. And Naruto was talkative. The revelation left him torn between being ashamed, grateful, and even a bit flattered. "Okay, so I'll admit I sucked at literary analysis. But, hey, it's not like I'm going to college to major in literature."

"That's true… And you still got higher scores than me on those tests, anyway." He sighed. "I miss high school."

Sasuke rested his head on Naruto's chest, half watching the movie and half lost in memories. "College too hard for you, idiot?"

"No!" Naruto flicked the top of his head. "I was gonna say because I miss being around you, but if you're gonna be a bastard, then never mind."

Sasuke smirked, moving so that he was straddling the blond. "You miss me. Bastard and all."

The sudden contact completely melted Naruto's annoyance away and he rested a tan hand on Sasuke's hipbone, exposed from his shirt riding up, gently stroking the contours with his thumb. "Yeah… I do. Do… do you miss me…?" he asked, his tone of voice suddenly becoming serious.

Sasuke frowned at the uncertainty in his voice. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" he asked softly, reaching out to brush Naruto's blond fringe from his cerulean eyes.

Naruto shrugged as well as he could in their position. "I don't know…It just seems like it's easy for you to forget about me when you're so far away…"

Sasuke bent down and kissed him, almost forcibly, shutting him up for a few minutes. "No," He whispered between kisses. "I think about you every day…"

Naruto sighed and shifted their position so that Sasuke was beneath him. "I wish you'd come back to Konoha…"

"They have nothing for my major here. You know that." Naruto said nothing, and Sasuke's gaze darkened slightly. "That's it though, isn't it? You don't want me studying genetics."

Naruto heaved a heavy sigh and rolled off of him. "I'm sorry… It's just… I don't want to see you turn out like HIM."

There was silence for a moment, and as the quiet ticking of the clock and the sounds of the movie became the only noise, Naruto hazarded a glance at his lover. Sasuke looked shocked, and hurt by the statement. Naruto figured he should feel guilty, but this was something he'd been needing to get off his chest for a while.

"How could you think that I'd turn out like Orochimaru?" Sasuke, asked, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

Naruto flinched a bit at the name. "I don't know, Sasuke. It just… worries me, you know? You're going to the same school he went to, for the same thing… and…"

"Well, I'm nothing like him," there was a harshness in his voice and Sasuke had to fight to keep from shouting. he took a deep breath and tried to understand Naruto's point of view. "Look… I get why it makes you nervous. But just because one person turned into a sick freak from studying that particular field, doesn't mean everyone will. It wasn't even the field; Orochimaru probably always had a few screws loose. Have some faith in me. Please."

Naruto nodded numbly, knowing that there was logic in what Sasuke was saying. But still. He didn't like Oto University; he didn't like the campus, the area around the campus, the students, the teachers… Just the thought of the place gave him chills.

"Naruto…?"

But it was Sasuke they were talking about after all. "Yeah, I have faith in you. I know you're a good person… I just wish you didn't have to study at that place…"

"Just four more years," Sasuke muttered. "Four more years, and I'll have my master's, and then I'm transferring to Senin Institute for graduate school."

Naruto's eyes instantly brightened. SI was a lot closer to home, about halfway between Suna and Konoha. And not to mention, SI was a lot friendlier and a lot safer. "Really? That's awesome!" His face fell. "But graduate school? That means we'll be apart for three more years…"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him softly. "It won't be that bad. You stay busy following your dream of becoming mayor of Konoha while I finish up school, and then after that, I'll move back to Konoha permanently to live with you, okay?"

Naruto held Sasuke tightly to his chest, relishing the contact he had been denied for so long. "I just hope everything works out the way we want it to."

"I'm sure it will. We just have to stay positive."

Naruto brushed his lips over the scars on Sasuke's wrist, and Sasuke shivered at the touch. "You're hot when you're optimistic," he said, grinning that foxlike grin at him once again.

Sasuke anxiously ran his hands up and down Naruto's arms, feeling the surge of desire within him growing. "That's enough arguing, then. It's time for me to show you just how much I missed you."

**Pagebreakpagebreakpagebreak**

Naruto woke up the next morning on cloud nine, admiring Sasuke's still sleeping form. He quietly slipped out of bed and dressed himself, then opened his luggage to retrieve his laptop and connected to the hotel's Wi-Fi., logging into his email. It was mostly empty, save for a few messages from Sakura, who was studying premed abroad, and Kiba who was begging him to visit. Kiba had gone to some community college and was working on getting certified as a veterinarian, and now he and Naruto rarely saw each other. Now that they were both in Konoha, they would surely have to meet up…

Naruto sighed and leaned back in his chair, tracing the pattern on his sweats. He thought about how he and all of his friends were going their separate ways and wondered if eventually they would stop speaking and forget about each other. It was hard to imagine not having the friends he'd known since elementary school in his life anymore, and even more difficult to think about a life without Sasuke.

It had been a little over two years since the battle that struck down Orochimaru and Madara, and things had changed so much… It was like they were all different people now. It was a little sad to see the way everyone had grown up, but at the same time, it was refreshing.

Naruto's fingers wrapped around the pendant that hung around his neck- no longer the spiral assigned to him by the ghosts of his past, but a tiny hawk given to him by Sasuke- and wondered. If so much had changed in just two years, where would they be in another two years? Four? Ten?

He supposed there was no way of knowing. He just had to live it.

**Fin**

**So there's the legitimate ending! I'm going to start going back and fixing a few of the chapters. I have a couple of plot holes I need to patch up and the first couple of chapters need their formatting redone. I don't know if you guys will get alerts for that, but if you do, that's why. XD**

**So, thoughts? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Revvviiieeew! C'mon, it's the last chapter ever! ;D So yeah, be sure to check out After the Rain for side fics, and The Fool's Journey for my new story. Adieu!**


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